


Only Suspended, Neat!

by Six02



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, Ozpin Already Knew
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24187081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Six02/pseuds/Six02
Summary: After telling all of his friends about his faked Transcripts, Weiss goes to Ozpin and insists on having him expelled.  However, he and most of the teaching staff were already aware.  Instead of the usual schpeal where Jaune is betrayed and left for not, he's only suspended under the ruse that they'll be reviewing his progress.While Jaune spends sometime away from Beacon, and meets two individuals Naga Celestino Azul and Blanche West.  Both of them were supposed to have been in Beacon this year, but during practice Naga over extended himself and broke his leg, and since Naga couldn't go Blanche didn't bother either, the two being tied at the hip in a sibling like relationship.This is an story of Fun and adventure, while Jaune spends time with the two rather sardonic individuals.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc & Original Character(s), Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos & Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc & Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc/Lie Ren, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Right then, not so great at descriptions. I admit that Jaune being betrayed are my stupid guilty pleasure, so I wanted to write one but this time quite a bit light hearted. I don't know if I'll post the continuing chapters here or not as it'll be heavily OC based with mine, Naga, and my friends, Blanche, tagging along with Jaune on his own little adventure. 
> 
> Just to preface the only one who had any serious issue is Weiss, and that's only because of how she was in early volumes, she'll come around. Not sure how often I'll update as I was just doing this for fun and I've had the urge to write again. I'm going to do my best to keep everyone in character, which was what worries me the most. For Jaune I plan to have him be the silly adorkable fool that he was.

“I always figured this could happen, but I didn’t think it’d be because one of my friends…” Jaune’s thoughts came to a halt as his attention was quickly grabbed by Headmaster Ozpin. “Now, Mr. Arc, I imagine why I called you here today?” Jaune’s voice hitched as he began to answer, “I… y… yes. It’s because of my transcripts.” Taking a deep breath, and a bit of time to recollect himself lest he fall into tears, his eyes wandered to Professor Goodwitch. 

He wasn’t sure what the intent of her stare was, but she was watching him, almost judgingly so as if she was trying to figure something out. She had been the one to call him to the headmaster’s office, her voice stern yet oddly caring. He knew what was coming, after all the individuals who had informed the headmaster had come to tell him herself. With as much of a condescending attitude as she could muster.

He had informed the rest of his team, as well as team RWBY about his transcripts shortly after the dance. The reaction’s had been… mixed. Relieving enough, Nora and Ren didn’t seem to care, but being the good brother that he was, Ren had to admonish Jaune for his stupidity while Nora cheered it on. “Jaune… that was dangerous, you could have been killed when we got sent flying! We could have never had a chance to have our brother in our life… just please don’t do anything stupid like that in the future.” Ren’s words had hit him pretty hard, probably the hardest out of anyones, now Nora’s… “WOW! Way to go Fearless leader! You’re even more Fearless than I thought you were!” He couldn’t help but smile at the thought, even now. 

Blake had taken it surprisingly well, then again she also had her secrets and she’d be a hypocrite if she were to think any less of him, though she had mentioned how dangerous it had been. “It was really stupid and dangerous of you… but I can understand where you’re coming from and honestly, I’d just be a hypocrite if I were to try to admonish you.”

The others, they were a bit more complicated. Yang, she wanted to be angry, she felt that Jaune was endangering everyone but most importantly Ruby. But she just couldn’t, she knew people made mistakes and she knew that she had damn well put Ruby in danger more than once herself. He himself had realized, shortly after being made team leader how dangerous it was, he hadn’t realized that other people would have to rely on him and honestly it’s part of the reason he was so scared of being a team leader in the first place. Regardless her reaction was admittedly understandable, “You idiot! I… ugh! I really don’t want you hanging out with Ruby, but she’s already 15, she’s not a kid and… and I’ve made plenty of mistakes myself. Just… I’ll be watching you.”

Weiss, oh boy, she was a whole can of worms on her own. She yelled at him, demeaned him, called him names ranging from stupid to reckless. The two of them had managed to bury the hatchet once before, but this, this had burst the dam once more. “You idiot! We work our buts off to get here, and you… you just cheat your way in!? You don’t belong here! It was obvious from the start but this explains everything!” She would have said more if Ruby hadn’t intervened, “Weiss! Stop it.” She had paused, trying to find the words, it was obvious she was in a bit of turmoil, she felt that the way Jaune got in hadn’t been right but at the same time she enjoyed her time with him they were nerdy besties after all. She took her time to recollect herself, “I… I don’t agree with how you got in, but Jaune you’re still my friend. I’ll do everything I can to help you out okay?” Her smile had been heartwarming, she really was just another little sister.

Now, the last one, that one had brought him hope in a rather hopeless situation. His partner Pyrrha, she had already known but decided to reinforce her position. “Jaune, I already knew… and what I said before still stands. I’m going to keep helping you, you’ve grown so much, I know you say you can’t see it but it’s so obvious. You put so much effort into it, I’ve even heard Professor Goodwitch, Port and Oob…” “DOCTOR OOBLECK!” Everyone had to pause and stare outside the window to see Doctor Oobleck’s hat as he descended back to floor level, aftera moment of shock she continued. “Right, Doctor Oobleck, praise you for how far you’ve come. I believe in you and I always will” He swore that he saw her glaring dagger’s at Weiss, though Nora herself was being far less subtle about the situation.

Oddly enough, it had been his dance with Pyrrha that had made him want to come clean with everyone else, he needed to get his sin out in the open so he could better himself, for her. A small blush came to his face, he had realized shortly after the dance that he Jaune Arc had feelings for his partner Pyrrha Nikos. Admittedly he always thought she was beautiful, but he’d always been too busy chasing after Weiss to ever really give Pyrrha a chance, something he regretted more and more with each passing day. 

“Mr. Arc, did you hear what I said?” Jaune snapped out of his memories, staring at Ozpin, “Uh no sir I’m sorry I was just uh… remembering something.” He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he stared down to the seated professor. Clearing his voice Ozpin began to talk again, “Right then… after the attention has been brought to us by Ms. Schnee, we’ve had to speak with the board. I’m assuming you know what’s going to happen.” Jaune’s voice hitched, his breath stilled as he began to speak, “I… you’re going to expel me… r…right?” Tears were beginning to form as he did his level best to stay calm.

However, what he heard next threw him off, “Normally yes, maybe something even harsher depending on the situation, however.” Ozpin paused, taking a sip of his coffee, Jaune could swear that he saw a smile tip the edges of his lips. “After speaking with the professors on your progress, we came to a conclusion that rather than expelling you, we’d suspend you indefinitely till we are able to correctly go over your progress and a decision is made.” Ozpin put the mug down, staring at the flabbergasted Arc scion. “I… I’m sorry, I didn’t expect…” Jaune couldn’t finish his words, his emotions were finally catching up to them.

“Yes, shocking as it is, as Ms. Goodwitch here can attest, you’ve seen a rapid rate of improvement in such a short time with no apparent experience. We’d like to give you this chance, obviously you will have to go home, and we’d have to reach back out to you but if you take up this offer we’d be giving you a chance.” He was smiling now, Jaune turned to Goodwitch who was also smiling, “He’s correct Mr. Arc, you’ve grown at a rather astonishing rate. While, I can’t condone your methods…” She gave him a glare which caused his spine to chill ever so slightly, “I can understand your want to help people, and we are a school for training huntsmen after all, it’d only make sense to help you improve.” She paused and smiled ever so subtly, his attention snapped back to Ozpin as he began to speak. 

“So here’s what’s going to happen, we’re going to have to let you go, we will be reaching out to your scroll so make sure to keep it, and if you decide to do anything even more reckless make sure to check your S-Mail as well.” Jaune nodded, tears he had held back now flowing, “I… thank you so much for still giving me a chance.” His words came out slow, as to not slur them, though his state of gratefullness was pulled away when he heard one more voice, “Well kiddo, if there is one thing that can be said about your situation is that you’ve got balls of steel for pulling what you did.” Turning around, Jaune found himself face to face with a man, grey hair and a scruffy beard.

“Name’s Qrow, I’m shortstack and firecracker’s uncle.” The man, now known as Qrow, stated as he took a drink from his canteen. It didn’t take Jaune long to realize who he was referring to, he was Ruby and Yang’s uncle, they’d often talk about him. “Shame that someone gave you up, but don’t let it get you down, and don’t let the review eat at you. If you’ve really improved as much as the others have said then I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Jaune wasn’t sure what to say at this point, so he chose to nod weakly. 

“Now Mr Arc, unfortunately we’ll have to escort you off the premise, we have a Bullhead ready to take you to Vale, and we… I will be giving you some funds to help you out, Glynda will take you back to your dorm to gather your belongings.” Jaune’s heart stopped, he was going to have to say good bye to his team, maybe forever. He began to make his way to the Elevator, followed by Professor Goodwitch, though he was stopped midway. “And Mr Arc.” Turning to look at the Headmaster one more time, he felt his emotions finally collapse, “I’m proud of how far you’ve come, no matter what happens.” It was then that he fully began to cry, only able to speak one more time before getting into the elevator, “Thank you… so much.”


	2. End of Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune starts to wonder about what could have, the teachers have a betting pool, and the introduction of the troublesome twosome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy there, thank's for reading this little pet project of mine. Oh jeez it's been years since I've bothered to write anything and oh boy am I ashamed of those.
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoy, this will be the end of the two prologue chapters and then we can move onto the more adventure and happy times.

“Okay, just breathe in and out, you can do this.” Jaune’s trembling hand began to reach for his scroll as he prepared to unlock the door to the dorm room, for possibly the last time. He paused once he heard voices from beyond the door, unable to make out what they were saying he knew his team was there. He was both happy and sad they were there, part of him wanted to leave without a word. However, more than his urge to cower, he wanted to see them one last time, let them know what was happening and tell them he loved them. Unable to move forward he heard a cough behind him. Turning around he saw Professor Goodwitch staring him down, her eyes were stern but the belayed an understanding for his situation.

Taking one more deep breathe he began to unlock the door, with a click he heard it unlock. Opening it he found himself being eyed by his team. An attentive serene look from Ren, an energetic and urgent look from Nora, and finally a worried and needing look from Pyrrha, her voice was the first to reach his ears. “Jaune! There you are, is… is everything okay?” Her voice broke ever so slightly at the end, they could see that everything wasn’t okay, Jaune’s eyes had become slightly puffy with a hint of redness. Wiping his eyes one more time he started to speak, “I uh… no.” Was all he could get out as his team got up and hurried their way towards him, Ren’s calm demeanor cracking ever so slightly and Nora’s hyperactiveness toning down to a halt.

“What’s going on Fearless leader?” Nora asked, worry clear in her voice, pausing one more time Jaune began to speak up again. “I uhm, uh” He found it hard to speak, he had it all planned out before but now that he was in front of them, nothing. Taking one more gulp hoping to moisten his dry throat he started to speak again. “I’m, I’m uhm, I’m being suspended from school… indefinitely.” For what seemed like an eternity no one spoke, he could see the slow realization that was coming to the remaining members of his team. Pyrrha was the first to break the silence, “WHAT?! What do you mean you’re going to be suspended?!” Her voice was faintly close to cracking as he could hear her very nearly choking back the sobs that threatened to escape if she wasn’t trying hard enough. 

He took another deep breath, he didn’t want to out Weiss, she may have gotten him temporarily kicked out but he didn’t hate her and he didn’t need Nora breaking her legs. “Someone… someone went to Ozpin and made a big deal about my transcripts.” Once again silence, this time it wasn’t Pyrrha who said anything, she was too in shock, this time it was Ren. “It was Weiss… wasn’t it?” He asked, his body tone oddly faded, using his semblance to keep himself calm. The ensuing silence that followed in the small time it took for Jaune to think of an escuse was damning on it’s own. 

“I’M GOING TO BREAK HER LEGS!” A loud roar coming from JNPR’s smallest member caused the glass on the windows to tremble. Professor Goodwitch readied herself in case she needed to stop Nora from acting out in violence against team RWBY. “Nora no!” Jaune got in her way as all himself, Ren, and Pyrrha all had to grab onto her to stop her advance. In her anger she was easily dragging them along, forcing Ren to hold her down with his Semblance to calm her, if only enough for Jaune to continue talking. “Nora no please… I… I don’t want you to get in trouble for me. Don’t start anything with her, I’m mad at what she did but I’m sure she had a good reason.” He tried to remain calm, but even he was mad, though he wasn’t the only one. 

“Jaune you can’t be serious! I don’t agree with breaking her legs… much. But she broke your trust, why are you still defending her?” Pyrrha’s voice was almost pleading, in a small hope that Nora did break her legs. “Look, I know okay? I just, I don’t want this to cause any bad blood between you guys and RWBY while I’m gone okay?” This caused a sour look on their faces, until the last part kicked in. “Wait until you're gone?” Ren asked with a perplexed look upon his face. “Right I’m not getting expelled guys, I’m just being temporarily suspended, they have to review how far I’ve come, Ozpin really helped me out and I want to put my trust in him.” Another cough came from behind him as everyone's attention went to Goodwitch, her hand in front of her mouth as she attempted to get the team's attention. 

“I have… on good tidings, that your faith in the Headmaster won’t go unrewarded.” A small warm smile on her face, almost motherly. This had the intended effect of calming the team down. “Now, I’m sure you all must have a lot to talk about.” She paused as she stared at her scroll to check the time, “We have a little bit of time left, why don’t you all help him pack, I’ll wait here for maybe another thirty minutes before we have to go.” Four heads nodded as they made their way inside the dorm, the door closing behind them, she could make out faint sobs as the team had one more group hug where they stayed together for a while. 

After helping Jaune with gathering everything the team made their way outside the dorm, a small smile on their face as they all looked at the last team picture they just took together. Jaune would cherish it forever, turning towards the Headmistress he nodded, “Alright I’m ready.” With a hum Goodwitch nodded and began to lead him away, “Excuse me, can I come with you till the Bullhead?” Pyrrha spoke up gently, wanting to spend a few more precious moments with her team leader, and best friend. Goodwitch stared at her, and mulled it over for a bit, “Yes, yes you can.” As she turned around, a small smile could be seen upon her face. Jaune and Pyrrha both sighed in relief, with as much bravery as she could, Pyrrha grabbed onto Jaune’s hand causing both of them to blush slightly though the other wouldn’t notice it. Giving Pyrrha a small smile he proceeded to lead her after Goodwitch, unknownst to him Nora gave Pyrrha a double thumbs up, while Ren smiled contently.

As the trio made their way out, team RWBY’s door opened, “Hey Ren, hey Nora! What’s going on? We heard yelling and wanted to check it out.” Team RWBY’s small leader asked the odd duo, turning towards them Ren was the one that answered as Nora was busy giving Weiss the evil eye causing her to flinch. “Jaune’s been suspended, someone informed the Headmaster about his Transcripts.” His demeanor calm, but his voice cold, his eyes slightly moving to eye Weiss. “WHAT?!” Both the Rose-Xiaolong siblings yelled out in surprise. “What do you mean?!” Ruby’s voice now in a panic. 

“It’s as Renny said…” A low growl escaping Nora’s voice, “SOMEONE, decided to snitch on fearless leader, now he won’t be here anymore…” Her eyes not once leaving Weiss. With a harrumph, ignoring the obvious death stare she was receiving from Nora, Weiss began to speak. “Good Riddance, he was only ever going to get in the way now we don’t have to deal with that idiot anymore! You all can thank me once you realize how better off you were.” RBY stared at her silently, Ruby in complete shock, Blake with a cocked eyebrow, and yang with a slight glare. Though none of these could compete to the vibrating Nora, her rage palpable, “Nora?” Turning towards Ren, Nora cocked an eyebrow, “Get her.” A manic grin spread across her face as in a flash the small Valkyrie was upon the Snow White Heiress.

Pinching the bridge of her nose Professor Goodwitch could feel a headache incoming, she didn’t know where and she didn’t know who but she just knew that she was going to have to fill out paperwork. Turning back one more time she eyed the two students, walking hand in hand in absolute silence enjoying one another’s company. She smiled once more, this time less than a smirk and more of warmth. They were quickly approaching the docks and their time to say goodbye would soon be upon them, but she didn’t feel like ruining it, not yet. Before they continued however, she turned her attention to Jaune, “Mr. Arc.” Snapping his attention to Professor Goodwitch, he found an oddly warm look on her face. “I just… want you to know that I’m proud of you. I may not have acted as fairly as I should have at the start, but you’ve come a long way, and no matter what happens just know. You do belong at Beacon.” He paused, staring at her one more time and with his best attempt at finding words, “Thank you… thank you.”

Soon they found themselves in front of a bullhead, “Promise you’ll call or message m… I mean us?” Pyrrha asked, flustered by her own mistake. Jaune could only smile softly trying his best to stay strong for his friend. “I promise, I’ll also make sure you text and call you specifically.” He said with a small chuckle, causing her to blush once more, though he of course missed it as he turned towards the bullhead. “Well I suppose this is it… I… Pyrrha?” He stared at her, trying to find the words he wanted to say. “Thank you. Thank you for believing in me when no one else did. Thank you so much for being my best friend, thank you for giving me a chance.” He said trying his damndest not to cry.

Pyrrha however, was not having such luck, her eyes began to water as she did something she felt she should have done a long time ago. She grabbed onto him, wrapping her arms below his and pulling him into a strong hug, one that almost took his breath away, literally. “I’m going to miss you so much Jaune, please stay safe. I promise we will do everything to make sure that you’re our team leader when you get back.” With those last words she summoned up all of her courage and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek, “Something to remember me by okay?” Both faces were now as crimson as Pyrrha’s hair. Unknown to both of them Glynda muttered something about Peach owing money to the pot.

Before Jaune could confirm what he hoped was, and before his negativity and denseness could override his hope, he was grabbed by the Pilot of the Bullhead, “Alright kid! We don’t got time for teen melodrama. I got a schedule to make, let’s go!” Once again Glynda muttered something about interrupting the good part. Before he could protest Jaune was dragged along, only able to shyly wave goodbye. As the Bullhead began to ascend, leaving Jaune alone to his thoughts, Glynda turned her attention to Pyrrha and smiled. “Don’t worry, he’ll be back before you know it, you’ll get your chance then.” She said, giving her a knowing look. If Pyrrha’s face turned anymore red, then she wouldn’t have had any more blood to function the rest of her body, “I uh I don’t, what?” She asked, confused on how her secret didn’t seem so secret to the headmistress. “Right right, well come along, I imagine that Ms. Valkyrie is currently turning Ms. Schnee into a punching bag.”

Soon Jaune found himself in a Hotel Room, cursing Bullheads as his stomach still couldn’t handle air travel. His Scroll in front of him, his parent’s scroll number locked in front of him. He debated calling them, letting them know he’d be home, but he just couldn’t. Instead he swiped finding another number, Saphron Cotta-Arc. Taking a deep breath he began to dial her number. “Hey Saph… it’s me.” After a long and tiring conversation, Jaune had convinced her to not tell their parents, and at the same time to let him stay with her till he could get back. Now the problem was getting there, he had enough money to either get to the next town or where he could walk, or he could walk to that town and then take a bullhead to Haven, where he could possibly get a train ride to Argus. After much consideration, he decided to go with the latter instead of the former, now the problem was when.

When Morning came, he had decided, he was going to walk towards the next big town and then from there hitch a ride to Haven, that’d be cheaper overall. Making one more call before he left, he decided to let the family friend that had gotten him the transcripts know that he would be gone for a while. He’d been keeping up with them randomly, but since he wasn’t going to be around anymore, he figured it’d be good manners. “Hey Roman.” On the other side was Vale’s most wanted Roman Torchwick, or as Jaune knew him, Uncle Roman. “Hey Kid! How’s being a huntsman in training holding up for ya?” Roman asked a pep in his voice, Jaune swallowed the knot in his throat one more time before he started talking again. “Ya so about that…” He proceeded to tell Roman the long story of the last few days, getting a nod here and there. “Well damn kid sorry to hear that…” The next part was too quiet to hear, “It’s probably for the best.” 

Jaune cocked an eyebrow, unable to hear him he decided to let it go. “So ya I’m going to be headed out today, just wanted to thank you for trying to help me out and to say goodbye. Also! If you see Neo let her know I said bye, would ya?” Roman nodded and smiled, “Will do kid, you take care of yourself ya hear me?” With that the call ended, and Jaune began his trek to the edges of vale and down the path to the next Town. “I can do this…” As it turns out, he could in fact not do this. He found himself underestimating the travel, between the random creep attacks, to somehow losing his map, he was now lost in an forest completely unfamiliar to him possibly nowhere near civilization. Soon he found himself collapsed, in the middle of nowhere, preparing to meet his maker.

“Huh… would you look at those clothes? Who wears a hoodie under armor with jeans? It’s a travesty!” On his back, with blurry vision Jaune could barely make out the two individuals in front of him, one of them was huge and the other was short, probably as small as Weiss or Ruby. “That’s the first thing you think of? His clothes? Only you Naga.” The voice almost annoyed, but a sense of humor in it that gave way to a tone of familiarity. “Eh I call them as I see them. Anywho, ya holding up there Mr. Blond?” Jaune wanted to say something but his vision began to fade, though he swore he saw a tiger and a dragon before his vision gave way. “Huh… guess not, alright we’re taking him with us!” The taller of the two turned to the smaller one, “Seriously? You’re taking in another one?” “Eyup!”


	3. The Troublesome Twosome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune awakes in an unknown house, with out his weapons and armor, what horrors await him!
> 
> Just a dorky duo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for taking interest in this series of mine. I wanted to go over some things prior to the start of the chapter. I just want to go ahead and say, I don't hate Weiss, she's easily my favorite member of RWBY, now at least. But she was incredibly prideful early on, and she hasn't gone through her character development that she gets after the fall. As for Jaune, I won't be making him over powered, I plan to have him close to Season 7 where he showed to be quite competent at least in the opening. His semblance will be staying the same, he'll over all grow in ability and character as the series goes on but he doesn't need to be as skilled as say Pyrrha or Ruby, because he'll be a massive Wall, and with the help of Naga's Semblance his job will be even easier.

The first thing Jaune noticed when he began to stir was that his head was hurting, though he figured not eating for a few days would give anyone a headache. The second thing was that he wasn’t dead, at least he didn’t think he was. The third thing, well it had to have been that he was lying down on a sofa, a small two person loveseat that caused his legs to dangle from the side. And finally, he was hungry, really hungry, he was honestly surprised that this wasn’t the first thing he noticed. “Where am I?” His confusion compounded into shock soon after.

“Oh hey! Sleeping beauties awake.” The soft yet loud voice caused Jaune to jolt up, increasing the pain in his head and also causing him to flip to his left which led to him planting face first onto the wooden floor below. 

“Ow…” Was the best he could muster as he began to pull himself off the ground, only to realize his armor was gone, as was all of his stuff. Jolting upwards he almost stumbled, taking his best intimidating stance, which was anything but. “Who are you?! Where am I?!”

His apparent captor cocked his left eyebrow as he stared up to scrawny blonde. “Seriously? I go out of my way to save you and the first thing you do is shout at me? That’s just rude, also you shouldn’t demand other people to give their name without giving yours first.”

The young man in front of him stated in a matter of fact manner, akin to how Weiss used to speak, though much softer, almost flamboyant like Roman. Speaking of Roman, the kid had some serious fashion sense. He wore grey slacks, brown dress shoes, a deep blue vest on top of a light blue long sleeve dress shirt. He also seemed to wear a dress coat, though wear was a loose term, it was hanging off of his vest, he wasn’t even wearing the sleeves. Though Jaune just assumed it had something to do with the gold emblems that seemed to be attached to both the vest and the coat at the shoulders, golden dragons etched onto them. Other than his clothing the biggest thing Jaune noticed was that he was short, he couldn’t have been any taller than Weiss. He had dark skin, with hair as crimson as Pyrrha’s, his hair style was odd though. The left side was tied into a row of four cornrows pulled back into a bun of braided hair, while his right side was swept to the side, his eyes blue with what appeared to be random streaks of purple. And his eyelashes, he had the eyelashes that would put camels to shame!

A cough caught his attention, “So I know I’m fabulous and all that, I don’t really blame you for staring at me as long as you have, prolly never seen anyone as beautiful as yours truly. But, ya never did give me your name bean sprout.” 

If jaune hadn’t been embarrassed before, he was definitely embarrassed now scratching the back of his head he began to speak, “Oh right sorry… My name’s Jaune, Jaune Arc.” He attempted to give his best smile, only eliciting another raised eyebrow from the fashionable individual in front of him.

The young man looked as if he was about to say something when loud thumping began to echo through the wooden house, creaking following. Soon another figure, the second voice he had heard before passing out came through.

If the young man before him was a molehill, then the person who just came in was a mountain! He was tall, broad shouldered, and muscular - a build that was almost akin to that giant guy on team CVFY, albeit slightly less blocky. Actually, on a second look, this giant appeared to be a woman. Her tan skin was a touch paler than her friend’s, and slightly more ashy in color, but the left side of her face and all down her left arm had blotches and speckles of extremely pale skin, exposed due to her sleeveless baggy turtleneck sweater. Where the flamboyant guy’s hair was long, silky and scarlet, her hair was short, choppy, thick and murky, a grayish color except for the tufts of hair that fell in front of her ears, which bleached into white at the tips. And...a tail. She had a white-and-black striped tail. A Faunus. 

Other than her appearance the thing he noticed was that she was bringing him a bowl of food, that was unexpected. “Oh looks like sleeping beauty’s awake now.” Her voice was deep, an almost animalistic reverb echoing, yet somehow calming. 

Placing the food on a small table she stared at him, “You should eat, you look like you haven’t in a while. Should help put some weight on ya Beansprout.” It was then that he noticed the smaller one turning to her.

“Hey, I already used both those nicknames, come up with your own.” The tone harsh, yet at the same time filled with a hint of playfulness.

The larger one rolled her eyes as she stared down to the short one, “Well if I knew his name I wouldn’t have to come up with a nickname for him now would I?” The small one shrugged before turning back to Jaune.

“Alright alright fair enough, well our blonde friend here introduced himself as Jaune.” With a nod of her head she turned to Jaune and smiled, her tiger like maw gave way to a row of very sharp teeth. “You would have known that if you hadn’t taken your sweet time getting here, seriously, even with your giant stride you somehow always manage to be late. I swear if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were a sloth faunus.” With a huff she glared down at the young man.

“I’m sorry, I can barely hear you from down there, maybe if you’d like me to hear you, you could grow a foot or two.” In mock offense the smaller one opened his mouth and put his right palm up to his chest. 

“Excuse you! I’m perfectly fine the way I am, I’d hate to disrupt this perfect balance of fashion that is me.” He said with a rather wide smile and glint in his eyes, his arms spread to the side as he pulled his gestured towards himself. 

Their little argument was interrupted by a fit of giggles, which burst into laughter. Both of them turned to Jaune and stared at him, at first with no discernable expression, only to lapse into gentle smiles.

“I’m sorry, hahahah, it’s been a while since I got to laugh like that.” Wiping a tear from his eyes he began to calm down. “Thank you… I really needed that.” A smile, a real smile, now blessing his face. “Oh! You never gave me your name.” His expression sturn, remembering how he had been given flak for not providing his name first.

The smaller one snapped his right hand, his eyes wide open as if he just remembered the most important thing in his life. “Oh! You’re right! If this behemoth hadn’t interrupted when she did I most definitely would have.” The larger one gave him an indignant stare. 

“Right where are my manners, you are speaking with the one and only Naga Celestino D’Azul.” He took a small bow, and waited, when nothing happened he rose from his bow and stared at Jaune, offended. “You may give your applause now.” His voice stern, as if he had been expecting it from the get go. 

This confused Jaune, but he soon started to sweat, was this another name he was supposed to know? He began to clap, unsure of himself, “Oh I’m sorry! I uh… Uhm am I supposed to know you from somewhere? I mean you wouldn’t be the first famous person I didn’t know so I’m sorry if I offended you I mean if ya…” 

He was soon interrupted by the taller one putting her hand outward a look on her face which all but said he had just been had. “Hahahaha! Oh man, I’ve never seen anyone that got pulled along that easily! Oh I just know I’m going to like ya Jaune.” 

Shaking his head and calming from his explosive laughter Naga took the time to breath. “Don’t worry bout it, my family name doesn’t mean anything anymore. Either way, now that my introduction is out of the way. Lemme introduce you to my ever so eloquent friend Bl…” 

Before he could finish, a large hand was cupped over his mouth, as if to get him to shut up, though it didn’t, though only muffled sounds came out. Rolling her eyes once more the large woman began to speak. “I’m Blanche, Blanche West.” She paused and then turned to Naga, “You should probably ignore most of the things the Prima Donna has to say, it’s mostly bull.” She paused, placing her palm upon Naga’s head.

To Naga’s credit he only shrugged, “Look, someone has to talk for the two of us, and we both know you won’t. So that obviously leaves me, and well who better to talk for us than myself.” Naga practically beamed, only stopping as he turned back to Jaune. “

Alrighty then, you should probably start eating before your soup gets cold. And while you’re doing that, you can tell us what you were doing out in the woods completely unprepared.” Naga’s change of tone caught Jaune off guard, just a moment ago he seemed to have been in a joking mood, but now his demeanor was far more serious.

“I uh… I was trying to get to Patch from Vale, I’m headed to Argus but I didn’t have the money to do a full trip there and was hoping to travel partially on foot then pay less when I got there. I kinda lost my map.” This caused both of them to stare at Jaune in disbelief.

“Seriously?” Was the only thing Blanche could muster to say.

After a moment of silence Naga took his turn, “Why in Remnant would you go out of your way to walk to Patch? Why are you even trying to get to Argus, that’s an entire continent away!” 

Jaune swallowed, he wasn’t sure if he could tell these strangers, as hospitable as they have been, what happened. Then again, it’s not like he had anything to lose, even his own self respect at this point. “I didn’t really have a choice in the matter, I was going to go see my sister, and I didn’t really have time to prepare, I kinda got hoisted from the place I was staying before.”

“Were ya at Beacon?” Naga asked, causing Jaune to jump a little bit in surprise.

“I uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about!?” His panicked voice doing a terrible job at hiding the truth.

“You're not a good liar are you? It was pretty obvious you weren’t exactly a huntsman, but you did have your armor and weapons on you. Though when you mentioned, you were going to Patch from Vale was kind of a dead give away. Watcha do then? Beacon is notorious for not kicking out it’s students, seriously from what I know that school’s a hazard in itself!” Naga’s jolly tone was beginning to come back, as if to try to ease the somber mood.

“Well I kinda, forgedmytranscriptsgotturnedinandgotsuspended!” Jaune quickly closed his eyes and waited for the oncoming judgement. However, it never came, only silence. Opening his left eye he caught both of them with their mouths wide open.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Once again Blanche was the first to speak, “I would not take you for the troublemaker kind, but I guess looks can be deceiving. I’m impressed Jaune... “ She paused as a realization came to mind. “Wait did you say you were suspended?! Like, not expelled, but suspended? What the actual hell.” To say Blanche was shocked would be an understatement. Though before she could continue Naga interrupted her.

“Huh, okay, maybe we should have gone to the initiation after all, probably would have gotten in after all.” Naga was holding his chin in thought, though this was soon broken by Jaune.

“Wait, you two were supposed to go to Beacon?!” This had caught Jaune off guard, if they were supposed to, why hadn’t they? “Why didn’t you go to the initiation then?”

“Well Jaune my new friend! It’s a tale of wonder, danger, and drama! I’m sure you wouldn’t want to hear…” Naga was soon interrupted by Blanche.

“Poncy here fell down a flight of stairs and broke his leg, somehow. Apparently even Aura doesn’t protect you from stupidity and clumsiness.” Blanche stared at Naga, almost asking him to challenge her on that, instead he relented.

“Ya that... I messed up and fell. Look, sometimes steps can be your worst enemy okay? Stupid freaking short legs.” Jaune once again found himself chuckling, on one hand he was sad they hadn’t gone, he was sure they would have been friends, but at the same time it was nice meeting them when he needed someone.

“Right then, so Jauney, what’s your plan now?” Naga asked, now seemingly over the embarrassment Blanche had forced him to endure.

Jaune thought for a bit, he wasn’t sure, he didn’t even know where he was and was sure he’d just end up getting lost. “I honestly don’t know, I’m not even sure where here is and I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to find Patch now.” 

Before he could get himself in a rut Naga decided to speak once more, “Well Jaune my friend! You’re in luck! I was getting bored, so if you’re looking for aid I’d be more than willing to tag along! And obviously wherever I go my muscle has to follow!” Naga clapped twice in a hoity toity manner, as if he was a rich man calling his butler. 

Blanche once again stared at him incredulously, “Seriously? Because you're bored?” Her only response was for Naga to puff up his chest, closed his eyes and tilt his head upwards. Letting out a groan Blanche turned to Jaune. “Well you heard the punk, if he’s in and you’re willing to take strangers with you, mind you that you know nothing about, then ya sure I’m in.” This earned her a sharp bony elbow to the side, which didn’t even make her flinch.

Jaune had to ponder on it for a bit, he did just meet him but on the other hand they had been rather helpful. He had good luck on meeting people before and felt he was a good judgement of character, except Weiss, she didn’t count. Nodding his head he turned to them, “Well as my mom always says, Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet. I’d love to have you guys along.”

Both of them stared at him for a little bit longer, “Jaune my boy, you’re way to trusting. BUT, I like ya, and I like that attitude, we can take our time to prepare and then we can head out, I’ll show you to your room in a moment. Though, you should definitely check out your Scroll, it’s been going crazy ever since we found ya.” 

It was then and there that Jaune felt a sudden sense of dread, one he hadn’t felt since he left Beacon, he hadn’t gotten into contact with his friends in weeks! Finishing his soup he made his way to his stuff which had been put gently to the side, 50 missed calls and 89 unread messages, all from his friends, most from Nora. “Oh gods, I’m dead.”


	5. The Start Of A Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune and Co begin their Journey outwards!

“Jaune.” The voice was stern, calm, yet very very angry. Three individuals stood on the other end of the screen before Jaune. Ren’s demeanor was neutral, his breathing was slow, though the slight crease on his brow betrayed the sense of disappointment he was feeling. Pyrrha’s brow was creased in worry and frustration, her eyes darted back and forth between her teammates and Jaune on the screen. And Nora, she appeared serene, however having known her for the few month’s they had spent together Jaune had learned a few of her tells, the edges of her lips were curled every so slightly, and while it was faint he could see a tin of red underneath her eyes from a lack of sleep, and finally he noticed the scrunch of her nose, she was ready to rip into him.

“I’m sorry.” Was the only thing Jaune could muster as he kneeled down, as if he was a child put into time out. His face was downcast, his eyes dilated and the pace of his breathing rapid, he was about to get from his teammates. He found himself staring at the small screen of his scroll after finally mustering the courage to call them back.

Naga and Blanche watched from the sidelines, not wanting to interrupt the prime time show they were about to get. Having taken a seat on the couch they couldn’t help but enjoy the embarrassment that was written upon their new friends face. 

For a few minutes there was silence, the remaining members of NPR waiting on Jaune to respond with more than just an I’m sorry. When he didn’t, possibly due to fear, possibly due to awkwardness, or due to embarrassment, most likely all of the above, Nora began to speak. “Why have you not been responding to our calls, Jaune.” The fact that she didn’t call him fearless leader, or Jaune-Jaune, or any kind of nickname showed just how furious she was with him. 

Whimpering Jaune was about to speak when he was suddenly cut off by Ren, “I hope you know how disappointed we are in you. You told us you’d keep in contact, we expect better from you.” This felt like a low blow.

On the side line both Blanche and Naga couldn’t help but stare in amazement, it was like a child getting disciplined by his parents. They were about to say something to help him out, but the next voice caught them off guard as they recognized it instantly.

“Jaune, I… we, we’re just worried about you. You did promise that you’d call us every now and then but you haven’t even bothered to send us a message. You have no idea how worried I… we were for you.” The fact that she wasn’t stern or angry like the other two made Jaune feel worse. 

“I’m sorry Pyr… I was so caught up on getting to Patch that I lost track of time.” Doing his best Ruby impression he hoped this would fly, it didn’t.

“Jaune.” Pyrrha said, sighing ever so slightly, “I’m not looking for an excuse, just please promise me that you’ll make sure to call us more frequently okay?” Jaune nodded his head.

“Yes Pyr, I promise Pyr.” A small smile appeared on the Spartan’s face as she nodded to herself.

“Good good, now why were you trying to get to Patch? From what I remember you live in Domremy.” This, THIS caused Jaune to pause, he couldn’t tell them that he was mostly avoiding his parents and going to see his sister instead. No, that’d be bad, he had to come up with something else.

Before he could respond however, he was stopped by a knowing glance from Pyrrha. “Jaune, you have told your parents… haven’t you?” Her tone now turning stern. He had to think of something, anything or else he’d be in big trouble. 

Before he could answer however, he was stopped once more. “You haven’t told them have you?” The look of shock on his face was all they needed to see. Nora’s brow scrunched up, Ren’s eye’s closed, and Pyrrha’s cheeks puffed up.

“MISTER, YOU BETTER TELL YOUR PARENTS! Cause if you don’t, I PROMISE I WILL BREAK YOUR KNEES!” This was coming from Nora, her voice now in full blown anger. 

Ren interjected, “Nora, we don’t break the knees of our friends.” 

Huffing Nora responded shortly, “I’d only break them a little! That way he doesn’t do anything stupid again!” The glare she gave him was intense enough that it put Jaune into a full on panic.

Jaune did what he did best, try to not put his foot in his mouth and fail horribly. “I was going to! I already told my sister Saphron! I’m going to Argus to see her. I just uh, I wasn’t able to get a hold of my parents, they weren’t home and they didn’t pick up on their scroll!” 

It wasn’t the angry look on Nora’s face, nor the exasperated sigh that Ren gave, no it was the disappointed and sad face Pyrrha gave him, this broke him. “Jaune…”

“Okay, okay I’m sorry! Look I’m just afraid of talking to them alright. I haven’t spoken to them since I left, they already didn’t really think I’d make it. What was I going to say? ‘Hey mom, Hey dad, remember how you said it was okay if I came home well here I am! OH But I’m only suspended, no big deal one of my friends only reported me for false transcripts!’ Ya that’d go over well! They’d never let me see the light of day again!” He was exasperated, feeling like he just ran a mile he missed the amused looks that both Naga and Blanche had been giving him for a while now.

“JAUNE YOU BETTER CALL THEM OR I SWEAR YOU WILL BE MY WORKOUT BUDDY WHEN YOU GET BACK, FOR A MONTH.” This sent a shiver down Jaune’s spine, before he could spit out a reply however, “OH YOU’LL ALSO HAVE TO DRINK RENNY’S SMOOTHIES!” Nora shouted, pointing a finger at the camera, Ren’s face turned indignant..

“Okay okay hold on now! That’s basically torture you’re setting me up for. Can’t we talk about this?” He pleaded, now afraid for his fate. Nora’s only response was to crack her knuckles.

However, what happened next completely broke him. “Jaune, do you remember how you avoided us for a while because of the Cardin thing?” Jaune slowly nodded, “I… I’ll do the same thing to you for a week if you don’t tell your parents.” This obviously hurt Pyrrha just as much as it did Jaune, if her nearly tearing up gave any indication.

Though it had its intended effect, “Hey okay wait a moment Pyr! I promise I’ll call them, I don’t know if I’ll do it right away, but I absolutely promise I will.” This brought a smile to her face, and a knowing glance between Ren and Nora.

There was a bit of silence while the awkward duo stared at each other, which was promptly broken by the sound of someone making a whip sound. Turning his head to the side he saw Naga making a whip motion while Blanche Nodded sagely with her eyes closed, arms crossed, and a smile upon her face. 

“What was that?” Surprisingly it was Ren that spoke up. Both Nora and Pyrrha peered at Jaune intently. “Now that I think about it, where are you Jaune? It doesn’t look like you’re in an inn.” Once again before he could say anything he was interrupted, it seemed like today was interrupt Jaune day apparently.

“He would be in my home.” Jaune could feel himself aging as a sense of dread for the incoming conversation soon enveloped him. He hadn’t known Naga and Blanche long, but from the interactions they had with one another they very much enjoyed giving their friends hell, and they now considered Jaune a friend.

Coming up behind Jaune, Blanche kneeled a bit away while Naga took to Jaune’s side. “Greetings illustrious members of JNPR. We’ve heard quite a bit of you from Jaune.” This was a lie, the only thing Jaune had gone over with them was what was included in his story, so they had a general idea of the names, but that was about it. “It is a pleasure to be acquainted.” Naga gave a small curt bow, while Blanche waved inpationitely. 

“Oh! Hello there.” Pyrrha spoke in surprise, she hadn’t expected Jaune to not be alone during their conversation, and now she felt embarrassed, her face growing an interesting shade of crimson. This didn’t go unnoticed by anyone, even Jaune himself, who did his best to hide his reaction. Naga and Blanche however had quite the smiles on their face. Naga couldn’t help but lean in to Jaune.

“Well then, I suppose we should introduce ourselves, as mutual friends of our dear Jaune.” The smile hadn’t left his face, both Ren and Jaune recognized that smile. It was the kind of smile Nora had when she had a plan, something only devious individuals had. “Yours truly is Naga, Naga Celestino D’Azul! And my colossal compatriot is…” 

Once again before he could introduce her Blanche put her hand in front of his mouth. “Before Mr. Hoity Toity introduces me, my name is Blanche, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She said, giving a small nod with a simple smile on her face.

Moving Blanche’s hand from his mouth Naga began to speak once more. “Righteo then! We’ll be in the care of your Leader for the indefinite future. We promise to take care of him, and make sure he is returned to you safely.” Both sets of eyes made their way to Pyrrha, who then proceeded to hide behind her hair, causing both Ren and Nora to turn to her.

The only thought that went through Pyrrha’s mind was that she couldn’t be that obvious, right? Unfortunately she was, and even the resident antimatter in human flesh had begun to pick up the hits. His own face turning a bright crimson. Though, so far the conversation had stayed away from how he was found, that was good, he wasn’t sure how his team would take it.

“You talk funny! Kinda like Weiss, except more fun!” This of course was Nora, her attention fully on Naga, and his flamboyant speech. Naga made a face as if he was surprised and caught off guard, taking a moment to point at himself while looking around for anyone else. “Ya! You, Mr. Well dressed man!” Nora began to giggle.

Ren proceeded to put his hand on Nora’s mouth, making sure that she couldn’t say anymore. This caught Blanche’s attention, the two stared at each other and nodded feeling a kinship with one another. “Thank you for going with him, it’s good to know that he’ll have friends along the way.” Pausing, Ren realized they hadn’t introduced themselves. “Apologies, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. I am Lie Ren, if you could please call me Ren.”

Nora began to lick Ren’s hand, though this didn’t make him recoil, so she instead proceeded to grab his hand and yank him into a hug. “HOWDY! I’m Nora! Thank you for watching over Fearless Leader!” The small bomber yelled with energy unmatched by anyone Blanche and Naga had ever met before. 

Everyone’s attention was soon turned to Pyrrha, who had just come down from her embarrassment and was no longer hiding behind her ponytail. “I’m sorry! I’m Pyrrha Nikos, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Her smile radiant and almost blinding. Obviously both Blanche and Naga knew who she was, but they didn’t want to interrupt her, she seemed to be beaming when she was speaking to Jaune. This would be fun, “Thank you both so much for being there for Jaune when we couldn’t. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you all meet?” 

“Oh no, oh no! This is bad, maybe I can guide them to…” Before he could even finish his thoughts, his hopes were crushed.

“We found him passed out just outside the village.” If there was one thing he had learned about Blanche, it was that she was brusque and straight to the point, kinda like Ren but more verbal and energetic. 

Jaune could see the exact moment that it clicked for his team. It was the same moment that both Blanche and Naga got up and with haste, retreated from the room, though not before giving him some final words. “Good luck Romeo.” Those three simple words were whispered to him as Naga got up and left.

The next few hours would be passed by with his team taking turns giving him a stern talking to, and the importance of better travel planning. By the time they were done, and all their goodbyes were said, Jaune could swear that the world had begun to spun.

The next Morning came fairly quick, for the first time in weeks Jaune had managed to get a good night’s sleep, not only did sleeping in a bed help but having spoken with his team had made him feel even better. He missed them, and he couldn’t wait to get a call from Professor Ozpin, he really wanted to go back to them. 

After having breakfast, thanks to Naga himself, he had gotten the opportunity to meet Naga’s father and little sister. He wasn’t sure what the conditions of his family were, but he saw pictures of what appeared to be Naga’s mother and another sister. Though they were old, possibly 10 years or so as Naga himself appeared to be a child, and the other girl appeared to be his twin of sorts, what caught his attention was that both his mother and sister had lizard tails and scaled legs. He didn’t want to bring it up as no one had mentioned it, and he didn’t want to be rude, he wasn’t that dense, well not anymore at least.

Naga’s father was oddly okay with letting them travel, same with Blanche’s family, this was something he felt a small pang of jealousy over. He loved his family but his parents were overprotective, speaking of which he did make a promise. An hour long call later, Jaune’s plan’s hadn’t changed. His parents were anything but okay with the situation, though after explaining that it was temporary and skipping the part about his transcripts he was able to pass it off as an extended vacation to go see Saphron.

Soon the trio found themselves packed with new supplies and ready to head off to Patch. Apparently Naga and Blanche had been there before and knew the way by foot from their town. There wasn’t any major way of transport here, as the village was pretty small, mostly filled with Faunus. The town seemed peaceful enough, there appeared to be no discrimination, he figured it was one of those towns were everyone knew one another and since it was out in the middle of no where didn’t really have to deal with the standard prejiduce that other towns did.

Soon they found themselves out of the town, the small talk was nice, he learned that Naga’s family used to be a Noble one. Though apparently his Grandfather had squandered their wealth and they were barely making it by, which apparently had been one of the factors for him wanting to be a Huntsman, he wanted to be able to earn money to take care of his father and little sister as well as wanting to just help people, to be a hero. He smiled at the last one, he was sure they’d get along well, and that he’d like Ruby as well. 

Blanche was interesting, her family owned a shop or two in town, and it seemed that the two of them had been tied at the hip for the last 9 or so years. They did give off a very Nora and Ren vibe, though in their case they didn’t have that same sexual tension that Nora and Ren had. As Nora put it, not together-together, no these two seemed very much like siblings, an annoying little brother and a more responsible older sister. 

He also learned that Naga had a huge appreciation for the ‘Classics’ as Ruby would put it. He apparently liked older weapons quite a bit. His room had been filled with various swords, spears, bows, axes, and other weapons which didn’t even have dust capabilities. It apparently had taken everything he had to not geek out on Crocea Mors. Though their weapons had definitely caught Jaune’s attention, Naga’s was an ornate Guandao, the wooden pole was met by a ornate dragon head with it’s mouth opening wide onto a wide curved blade which seemed to have dust containers imbued into it, a tuft of purple fluff between the dragon head and the pole. 

Blanche’s weapons were much simpler, gauntlets apparently not unlike Yang’s, though something was off about them, he wasn’t a weapons expert so he couldn’t quite place his finger on it. Though, as they began to make their way through, a set of howls put them on edge. Drawing Crocea Mors as quickly as possible, noticing that Naga and Blanche had done the same with their weapons, he took a deep breath. Standing before them was 3 beowolves, one of which was clearly an Alpha. 

“Well damn, didn’t expect to Run into grimm this fast.” Blanche stated with an amused tone, “It’s been a while since I got to stretch, this should be fun I suppose.”

Naga chuckled a little, “Ya but we gotta be careful, it shouldn’t be too hard, but we shouldn’t underestimate them.” Despite their confidence, both Naga and Blanche seemed to take this oddly serious. This struck him as odd, every time one of his friends had fought a Beowolf, Alpha or not, they’d breezed through them with flare. It was kind of nice, it made him feel like he wasn’t at the bottom of a large well.

Taking a deep breath Jaune stared at the Alpha, “Hey guys, can I ask you a favor?” Both of them turned to him, the Beowolves being oddly compliant with their patience, though this was mostly due to the Alpha keeping an eye on them. “I’m uh, not exactly the best fighter, but I need to be able to do this. Leave the Alpha to me, and if you can don’t go too far, like you said they’re just Beowolves but you never know.” Both of them turned to one another, smiled and then nodded. Before the fight could start, they made sure to slowly put their things down.

The fight began soon after as the smaller beowolves howled and charged forward. For their efforts they were promptly put down. What was interesting was the lack of flair behind both Naga and Blanche, they didn’t do any extra twirls, they didn’t spin or do anything fancy. No they fought as if the foe in front of them was the deadliest thing they’d ever seen.

Naga didn’t run forward so much as he sauntered, waiting for the smaller wolf to get close to him. However, when it was close enough he jutted the blunt end of his Guandao on its face causing it to recoil. Before it could react, he made a relatively swift slash yet wide slash across its neck, severing it and causing it to turn into black mist. It was very simple but also very effective. Naga’s attention then was put to being a look out, making sure no other Grimm showed up.

Blanche on the other hand, her style was a combination of Ren and Yang, it was aggressive, but straight to the point. She ran at the beowulf, and as it made an attempt to swipe at her she ducked the clawed blow. Her Gauntlets shifted and sharp claws extended outwards. Taking both of her fists she twisted them so her palms were facing outwards. Her body suddenly erupted in flames, the area around her becoming a scorching inferno. The grimm soon found itself impaled, her fingers which had blades extending through the tips now penetrated the grimm. The flames which had been spread out, now found themselves concentrated on one focal point, where the claws were, instantly the grimm found it’s black body turning white hot. In a show of force Blanche pulled her arms outward violently ripping the grimm in half, soon nothing more than black ash.

It was Jaune’s turn, though he had watched the fight’s his attention had very much been on the Alpha. He wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t be able to go after Blanche or Naga when they weren’t expecting it. Though, it seemed to have chosen to go after Jaune regardless, probably finding him the easiest prey. Jaune’s pulse quickened, “I can do this, I’ve taken down an Ursa Major before, hell I’ve taken down two! I know I can do this, I believe I can!” With new found courage he walked forward, challenging the beast in front of him. One thing he noticed, whenever he charged his foe it always ended with him getting smacked around. Sure he could take a beating but he couldn’t always rely on his massive aura, no he had to be smarter.

Taking a wide stance, he lowered his center of gravity. He was always better at handling incoming attacks, he needed to put Pyrrha’s training into practice. Soon, the Alpha lost the battle of patience and lunged forward. He had seen Naga and Blanche fight, they had given him an idea. As the beast drew closer, much faster than he’d like, Jaune brought up his shield. The massive claw struck his shield, but it didn’t hit dead center, something Jaune had learned from Pyrrha was that rather than taking a hit directly, especially from a physically stronger foe it was better to Parry it. Doing just that he shifted his stance to the right, letting the beast's right claw slide off his shield, causing it to lose balance at the unexpected lack of resistance. 

This was the moment he had hoped for, with as much Might as he could muster, he was able to decapitate drag Crocea Mor’s through the Alpha’s neck, meeting with some resistance he applied as much force as he could and soon it’s head was relieved from its body. “I did it! Oh my gods I did it!” And did it he had, though in that moment of joy he let his guard down. Soon another beowolf was upon him, his Aura would take the bite, but damn if he didn’t curse himself for his negligence. However, the bite never came as he was no longer near the beowolf. Two sensations hit him, the first was confusion, the second was an overwhelming sense of Nausea. Before he let out his stomach, he noticed that he was where Naga had been, and where he was, was a dead grimm, Naga’s blade jammed straight through it’s head. 

“And you said you weren’t any good! Hell no, that was absolutely amazing!” Naga’s praise would have filled him with Joy, if he didn’t suddenly lose that morning’s breakfast all over the ground. “Aaaaaand now you’re throwing up… eww.” Blanche proceeded to laugh as she walked over to Jaune, patting him on the back. 

“You’re going to have to get used to that! But good job nonetheless! You did an amazing job, and I’m sure you’ll just get better as time goes on.” A beaming smile on her face as she praised the still bowled over Jaune. 

Naga shook his head, “Oh boy you’re going to be at that for a while now aren’t you?” Jaune proceeded to give no response as he slowly recovered. 

“What… what in the world was that?!” Jaune asked, feeling the fatigue set in, a mix between the instant motion sickness and the adrenaline wearing off. 

“That, would be my semblance.” Naga said with a smile, “I do hope you won’t vomit every time though, gonna need you to be my line of defense in the future it seems.” The increasingly large grin on Naga’s face showed he meant it. Jaune suddenly began to regret his decision to travel with the two troublemakers.

With a pat on the back, the trio proceeded to gather their things. “Well then Vomit boy, lets get going, we have a long way to go.” Blanche’s town was playful, though Jaune knew that this was going to be a very long trip. But at the same time, he was hopeful, maybe he could learn from these two. They fought simplistically, maybe he was better suited to that too, only time would tell.

“So~” Naga turned to towards his compatriots, “What are we going to call ourselves?” Jaune’s head turned a bit towards Naga, shrugging his shoulders indicating he didn’t exactly catch what he meant.

“Well I mean the schools always do things where they combine the names of their students to make a word right?” Blanche’s only response was a dispassionate glance. “Oh come on! We gotta think of something!”

Jaune chuckled, bringing his hand up to his mouth to stifle the laugh, “I don’t think we could with just three of us, it wouldn’t really make any sense.” Naga could only slump his shoulders as he looked between the two, now walking backwards as they pressed on.

“Neither of you are any fun…” He paused and then smiled, “So, What’s the deal with you and the Missus anyways?” His attention on Jaune, Blanche’s head snapping to attention instantly. An amused smile spreading across her face as her attention fully turned to Jaune.

In Jaune’s case, he could feel his pulse quicken, a sudden chill ran down his spine as his hairs began to stand on end. “I uhm, I don’t know what you mean.” He knew this wouldn’t fly, the two had only known him for a day, but they were perceptive enough. This of course, caused his cheeks to flush in embarrassment, it had taken him ages to realize how Pyrrha felt and god forbid his own budding thoughts. “Pyrrha and I are just friends.” 

Naga released a loud bellow, unbecoming of someone his stature, though it wasn’t him that spoke next. “Sooooo, Naga never mentioned who the Missus was.” Blanche’s mouth open in a large grin, her sharpened teeth gleaming with a reflection of light. “So, ya wanna talk about it?”

Sweat began to drip across Jaune’s brow, exhaling and inhaling one time he began, “I uhm, I like her ya, but I’m still not sure about things okay? Sorry I don't really feel comfortable with talking about it just yet, and I like you guys! But we just met so if you could please.” Despite the difference in height, the rate at which shrunk emotionally shrunk was enough to make Naga feel like he was ten feet tall.

With two swift patts on the back, from both individuals, smiles upon their faces the two decided to let the matter drop. “Don’t worry bout it Jaune my boy, just rustling your jimmies, don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. You can talk when you’re ready if at all, but we’ll be together for a while, so if ya need us we’ll be here.” 

With a sharp exhale Jaune began to straighten. “Thank you.” Jaune felt, that despite what it took to get here, this was probably going to be one wild experience.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio figure out a name, and meet the most foul enemy possible, can they hope to survive?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look I'm doing a thing! My post's most likely won't be as frequent as they were before, but I'm definitely going to be keeping at it. I'd like to finish this story at least!

“Look! All I’m saying is that we should most definitely come up with a name!” Naga’s voice heighted, his arms extended towards his traveling companions as he stared them down, his eyes open wide and his hands trembling slightly.

Jaune could only shake his head at the antics of his new friends, Naga and Blanche had been having this conversation for what seemed like hours at this point, it reminded him of a more tame version of Nora and Ren, except in this case with more flamboyant exaggerations and far more snark.

“And I keep telling you, buttercup, that we don’t need a name.” Was Blanche’s oh so poignant response, her back bent slightly as she lowered herself to meet Naga’s gaze, her eyes squinted and her right hand index finger pointed at the young man.

“How can you say that?!” Once again, Naga gave a rather exaggerated response, his hands now pointing at himself and his mouth wide open, as if someone had just told him the worst thing possible. “We need a name! A name would bring unity! Gasp!” Naga’s eyes closing slightly as if he began to think. Snapping the fingers on his right hand he pointed at Blanche, “You just don’t want us to be united, that's it isn’t it?!”

Blanche’s head tilted back slightly, her left eyebrow cocking, and her mouth slightly agape. “What? No I didn’t say that, look I'm just saying there is only three of us, what would we even call ourselves? And who would be the leader? Cause I sure as all hope it isn’t you. At least for Jaune’s sake.” She said now shifting slightly, her hands spread open gesturing towards Jaune. 

Soon he found both of them eyeing him, his only response was to laugh awkwardly and rub the back of his head. “Look guys I don’t know, I mean, Naga couldn’t be a bad leader right?” Blanche’s face took a tone of seriousness, her features stock still and her eyes almost glaring at him, her hands now at her hips. 

Naga on the other hand was now also gesturing towards Jaune with his right hand, as his left was now firmly at his waist. “See Jaune gets it. I’m glad you’re on my side Jaune, finally someone who understands my…” He began to snap the fingers on his right hand as he began to think. 

However, before Naga could even say anything he was soon interrupted by Blanche, “Your obnoxiousness? Your insanity? Your stupidity?” This proceeded to get an eye roll from Naga and an exasperated sigh, “Look Naga, I’m willing to follow you through most things, but we got Jaune here.” She turned to look at him, an almost glare that caused him to flinch ever so slightly. “And no offense, but I’d rather not kill someone we just met.” 

Jaune’s eyes widened a little, pausing before he could respond. “Wait I’m sorry ki…” Before he could finish he was interrupted again.

“Hey that happened one time!” Naga’s hands now thrown upwards into the air, “I swear you accidentally led a friend off a cliff once, and she never forgets.” 

Blanche’s response was snappy and brusque, “That one time almost got me killed…” 

“I saved you though! It doesn’t even count!” Naga’s tone sounding almost whiny at this point, again reminding Jaune of Weiss sending a chill down his spine.

Jaune couldn’t help but feel he was missing something, “I… can I get some context here?” 

“Nope!” Was the only response he got, though it came in stereo. 

“Oh okay.” His tone low and defeated. 

“Okay fine.” Naga finally conceding, “How bout this.” Turning once more to Jaune, “He’s already the leader of his own team at Beacon, why don’t we have him lead us? It’ll probably even things out better. I mean he had to have been made leader for a good reason right?” This received a positive hum from Blanche.

This caused Jaune to almost trip over nothing, barely able to keep his balance he turned towards his traveling companions. “Guys I don’t think that’s a good idea. I already told you the reason I’m even out here in the first place… I just don’t think you’d wanna risk your life on that.” His tone suddenly took a dip, this didn’t go unnoticed to Naga and Blanche who both stared at him for while only to shortly each take a position at one of his sides, Naga on his right and Blanche on his left.

“Look Jaune, I’m sure that you think you can’t do it, but from what you told us that headmaster of yours probably already knew. Why else would he not actually suspend ya, you know?” Naga’s tone sympathetic, his voice low now, “And, your friends and teammates seemed to really miss you. That speaks volumes of your leadership in my opinion. I mean look at how Blanche responds to me.” Jaune caught Naga giving Blanche a fiery glare, only for her to respond with another positive hum. “Either way, I’m sure you’re not giving yourself enough credit!” 

Jaune paused, his breath still as he took in the information. Pyrrha’s words came to mind, the same words she told him when they first met, ‘I’m sure you’ll be a great leader Jaune!’ A boost of confidence filled his chest. Taking a deep breath Jaune looked upwards, “Okay ya, if you guys are okay with it I’ll do it. I could use the practice, since I’ll be away from my real team after all. He was suddenly smacked in the back from both sides, though he felt his left side being hit far harder than his right, causing him to almost tumble.

“That’s the spirit! Now the most important part!” Naga stopped walking, causing Jaune and Blanche to halt as they stared at him. “What’s our name?!” This elicited a groan from both Blanche and Jaune.

“I uh, hmm.” Jaune began to pounder, his left hand on his chin as he began to count on his right hand. “Uhm, how bout JNB? Juneberry?” This answer got him two deadpan stares.

“Like the… plant?” Turning his head towards Blanche, he could only nod. To that she responded with a rather neutral, “Yeah okay.” Naga’s response was to close his eyes for a moment as if to think, and then a furious nod of his head. 

“Alright Boss! JNB it is!” A triumphant grin now upon Naga’s face as he stared upwards in victory.

“So, where are we going guys?” Jaune’s question broke Naga out of his reverie as he realized he hadn’t quite told Jaune where their first trip was.

“Oh crud right, uhm we’re heading to Terrant, it’s a town that’s pretty close by. I don’t think we’ll make it for a couple of days but I figure that it’d be good to…” He trailed off as all three of them suddenly began to hear something. “Uh… do you guys hear music? Really bad music?” Both Jaune and Blanche nodded in response.

“I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT!” The voice which echoed through out the forest caught all of them off guard.

Turning to one another they all began to grab their weapons, though as they did they noticed the sound began to grow louder and louder. 

“Guys, do you hear singing?” Naga and Blanche both began to nod as they turned their backs towards one another and began to back up into each other. 

“OH~ He is the greatest! ‘The absolute greatest!’ There is no one quite like him! He steals from whomever and gives to himself! He is Meister Deib!” The Music soon stopped only for the small silence to erupt into cheers and applauds.

“Okay serious where is that coming from?” Jaune asked, a bit afraid as he looked around seeing no one. 

“That my fine young meal tickets, is coming from me!” The trio soon followed the voice, up a tree and found themselves with an oddly dapper individual. A simplistic domino mask upon his face, his eyes obstructed by a white mesh. His blue hair was neatly combed backwards, though it was cut shorter than Jaune’s. He seemed to be about Jaune’s height in terms of size and was built quite strikingly, his muscle tone was well built but not overly beefy. He was adored in a white tunic which was then covered in a black long sleeved vest. He wore a leather belt on top of his black slacks and finally his black shoes seemed to have cleats on them for some reason. And finally a simple red bowtie put the outfit together quite nicely.

After the initial shock Naga was the first to respond. “Eh, I’d give him a 7/10 in terms of fashion.” He stated, bobbing his head back and forth while shifting his right hand around.

A loud gasped radiated throughout the forest, “HOW DARE YOU!” The strange individual roared at them, specifically Naga. “I can see that you truly know nothing about fashion, you gaudy piece of garbage!” 

This, this caught Naga’s attention, as well as Blanche’s who could only smile at Naga. Jaune was ever so slightly confused, but from what he could tell the insults were full of venom.

“Oh you did not just go there you piece of…” Naga was soon cut off by Blanche covering his mouth before he could continue.

“Okay enough of that.” Blanche turned towards Jaune motioning him to get a word in before things got bad. 

Jaune nodded, he figured they were surrounded, it couldn’t have just been the strange man, Meister Deib he thought his name was. “Look I’m sorry that my friend made fun of your fashion, I for one think you look good!” An slanted smile swept across Jaune’s face as he let out an awkward chuckle.

“We’re just on our way to the next village and we’d like to make it there peacefully, please.” He asked, while still keeping out for any unknowns in the area.

Meister began to ponder as he stared down at the trio, “Yes yes, I believe you said you were going to Terrant. Though see, that’d be a problem.” 

“Wait, how’d you know we were going to Terrant, were you stalking us?!” Jaune’s voice reaching an octave higher at the realization.

“OH yes quite, since you started your argument about Team Names, the loudmouth one sure can go on.” Meister stated, giving Naga an intense glare, which was returned in full force.

“Who are you anyways?” Blanche took her turn to ask her question. 

“Oh do you not know of me? I am quite infamous! And I figured that the song would give it away. Oh well, Gentleman?” Meister began to clap as at least a dozen men and women began to walk from behind the tree’s, showing the trio that they were indeed surrounded. All of them wearing very similar outfits to Meister.

“Why does it look like they’re wearing tuxes?! They aren’t even wearing them, why not actually wear one!” Naga’s voice loud and exasperated as he tried to wrap their choice of attire around his brain.

“Naga now isn’t the time.” Blanche stared at him as she rolled her eyes, “We have to think of a plan.” 

Before they could however, the singing started again. “We are the Gentlemen Bandits! We steal from whoever and give only to ourselves! Gathered together by the most prestigious! The greatest thief in all of Remnant! For he is here now to steal your things now! Put down your weapons or prepare to die! ‘Put down your weapons or prepare to die!” 

As the chorus ended, once again the trio was left dumbfounded, what in the world was even going on right now. Jaune had seen a lot of things while in Beacon, he roomed with Nora for Brother’s sakes! But this, no this took the cake on all the strange things he's seen before.

“Now look, I”m a gentleman, so I stay by my word and I believe in giving my prey a fair chance. So~ if you manage to beat me in a fight, and I do mean all three of you, because you will definitely need all three of you then I’ll let you go! If not, well depending on your performance, we could always use more muscle~!” His voice sing singing the last part.

“Over my dead bo…” Once again Naga was silenced by Blanche, who for once in their lives wanted Naga to just shut up.

Thankfully it was Jaune that spoke next, “Oh uh thank you? Uhm can you give us a moment to talk something over real quick?” 

Now, under most circumstances no one would give them the chance to talk, but Meister was a gentleman first and foremost. “But of course! You may now plan your doom.” He said dawning a smile upon his face, “You will need it after all!” He stated with a flourish of his right hand and a bow on his end. 

The trio took this time to huddle together and whisper to themselves. “You can’t honestly think he’s going to let us go! I say we make a break for it!” 

It was Jaune who shook his head at Naga, “No I don't think we’d get the chance, I can’t imagine his merry men would let us make it out if we tried to run. I know that it’s slim, but I have an idea, we can hold him hostage at the very least.” He took a pause, and another breath, something he realized he’d been doing a lot of recently. “Look you can set yourself on fire right Blanche?” She nodded, “And you Naga, I didn’t get to see yours as well as I could feel it, can you trade places with other people?” Naga cocked his eyebrow and smiled. “Okay so, I’m going to need ya to change places with him when we start, and Blanche give him a good ol hug.” 

This got a smile from both Naga and Blanche as they broke their huddle, “Ya okay you definitely deserve to be the leader.” Naga finally relented, he had come up with a sound plan after only seeing their semblances once, though he was a bit off on the way that they worked, it was good enough without an explanation. “Okay ya fraud Gentleman, let’s do this!”

Once again, a loud audible gasp echoed through the forest, “YOU! You will be on dish duty for the rest of your life!” This received quite a few acknowledgements from the bandits around them. “Alright then! Let us begin our game!” 

Dropping their stuff to the side, Blanche began to stretch as she began to open her arms wide towards Naga. “Ready?” Jaune asked.

Meister’s face was crumpled as he stared at the Tiger and Dragon duo, “Oh uh yes! Sorry, just I don’t think it’s time for a lover’s embrace at the moment!”

This earned him an echoed yell of, “We’re not! That’s disgusting!” 

Shaking his head he turned back to Jaune, “Yes, yes I do believe I am time to face your demise!” He began to point his hand at thema s if he meant to do something but before he could his world view changed. A strong sense of Nausea overtook him, and he would have thrown up if not for a sudden tightness surrounding him and unfortunately entrapping his hands which now pointed inwards to his own body. “What?! What?!” “BOSS!”

The bandits began to move inwards, but were stopped, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you~!” The voice came from the tree branch where Meister once was, now Naga crouched down, staring at everyone below. “You’re going to put down your weapons unless you want a fried boss!” 

“I wouldn’t struggle if I were you.” Blanche’s grip began to strengthen as she started to squeeze.

“BROTHERS WHAT DO THEY FEED YOU KIDS! OUCH OUCH OKAY OUCH, I WON'T BE BEATEN SO EASILY YOU OVER GROWN KITTEN!” In his pain, Meister chose to be defiant.

Surprisingly it was Jaune that answered, “I uh, I wouldn’t say that if I were you.” Noticing the angry scowl upon Blanche’s face as her body began to shift colors, a pale silvery hue suddenly erupting around her.

“Is it getting hot or is it just me, I mean I know I’m hot but… oh god it really is getting hot.” He noticed that the air around him began to warp with heat and finally noticed that Blanche was suddenly lighting up as if she was on fire. “OH BROTHERS YOUR ON FIRE! I'M GOING TO BE ON FIRE!”

Naga couldn’t help but chuckle as the plan was going well, the bandits seemed to like their boss well enough, their trembling a mix of anger and worry as they dropped their weapons at Naga’s behest. “Now! You’ll surrender! Wouldn’t want your clothes to torch the moment your aura breaks now would you?” 

Several gasps once again echoed through the forest as the words sunk in. “NO NO! Okay okay I surrender! You guys can go!” Meister could already feel his aura draining, and with his aura draining he could feel the heat intensify and even more so he could feel his bones starting to crack. Seriously what in the world of Remnant were they feeding these kids?!

“We need your word first! Call off your bandits and move them all that way!” Jaune demanded, doing his best not to let his nervousness show through, cause damn if he wasn’t nervous, it was one thing to endanger himself, he was used to that, but he didn’t want Naga and Blanche to get hurt because of him. 

“Yes yes! Okay everyone leave your weapons and move back the way they came!” The bandits begrudgingly listened, making their way to the path that the trio had come from. “Now will you please let me go! Oh crap my aura’s going to break!” And it did, though not before Blanche stopped trying to cook him alive.

She proceeded to drop him as she stretched and gave him a smirk, “That’ll teach you to mess with us!” She stated, pride in her voice for her first ‘fight’ not against Naga or Grimm won. Turning to Jaune she began to speak again, “Excellent idea there Jaune!” 

“Hell ya it was!” Naga stated as he took a leap from the top of the branch onto the floor besides them.

As abashed as he was by the price Jaune decided now was the time to go. “Thanks for the praise! But we should go before they decide to turn on us!” The duo nodded and grabbed their stuff, backing away swiftly as they watched the bandits gather around their leader in worry, several of them making sure that his clothes were still fine. 

“This won’t be the last you hear from us! We’ll get you for this!” Then he began to laugh joyously, for someone who just got beat he was rather happy. “Forget your stuff! Next time we meet, you three WILL be joining my group of Merry Men and Women! I want your strength, your semblance! And you!” He pointed at Jaune, “That was simple but Clever! I need you! Just you wait!” A rather soft smile was on his face, though this only caused the trio to worry.

At his words the trio began to sprint away, “Oh great, another thing to look out for!” Jaune said exasperated, drawing out a laugh from both his cohorts. 

“At least it’ll keep things from getting boring!” Was surprisingly Blanche’s joyful response. “I doubt he’d be able to take us in the future, we dropped him pretty quickly.”

While Jaune wanted to agree, he couldn’t help but feel that they got lucky, really lucky. “Next time he’ll be prepared for us, we gotta be careful.” 

Naga’s response had nothing to do with that though, “OKAY NOW WE NEED TO THINK OF TEAM ATTACK NAMES! That was super simple but amazing!” This elicited a groan from both Jaune and Blanche.

“It’s getting late, we can pick this up tomorrow I… ya we can just pick it up.” Jaune made sure to not promise, in hopes that Naga would forget, he got enough flack for his team attack names from Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. Though, he couldn’t help but feel giddy at the idea of someone wanting him to come up with a team attack name, he’d definitely have to think on it.

As the trio began to settle in, Jaune set up a campfire, it’s a good thing he had all that time to practice when his family went camping. Though, he noticed that Naga wasn’t setting up a sleeping bag, instead he was looking at tree’s.

After a while he noticed Naga smile and then head to his bag, he pulled out what looked like a sheet of cloth with strings going through it. Before he could ask what he was doing Blanche spoke out.

“Did you seriously bring your Hammock?” Naga only shrugged to Blanche’s question.

“Ya, I don’t see why not, it’s super comfortable, and I don’t like being on the ground if I can help it!” 

After Naga finished setting it up Jaune finally got a good look, he had chosen two tree’s close together and between them had tied a pair of ropes that had a large heavy looking cloth in the middle. Soon he noticed Naga leaping into the middle as the cloth part wrapped around him. “G’night guys! Sleep well, don’t let the critters bite and all that.”

Jaune couldn’t help but smile, he was enjoying himself, and maybe going on an adventure really was what he needed. He was sure good things were going to come soon and he just couldn’t wait to see them. Speaking of things he couldn’t wait to see, he grabbed his scroll and proceeded to call Pyrrha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Introducing Naga! Done by my wonderful friend Turnipstar who also happens to be the creator of Blanche.
> 
> Also Meister is far more dangerous than first appearances give.


	7. Some R&R

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio take some time for R&R.

From within the JNPR Room, the remaining members of JNPR found themselves staring preparing for their nightly rituals, Ren had just come from the shower being the last one to clean up when they heard Pyrrha’s scroll ring. Specifically, it was the ringtone she had set for Jaune. Before Pyrrha could reach for the scroll on her nightstand, it was swiftly and viciously swooped up by Nora. 

“FEARLESS LEADER!” Nora’s voice rang throughout the dorm room.

The voice was sudden enough and loud enough that it caused Jaune to stumble as he nearly dropped his scroll. Naga who had already set up for the night had ended up tangled within his hammock as the sudden sound caused him flip over. Blanche, however had taken the loud sound with grace and poise, she simply deadpanned at Jaune who sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“Hey Nora. It’s good to see ya!” Jaune said, a smile twitching at the edge of his lips. 

“It’s great to see you too, fearless leader! We missed you! It’s not the same without you, not nearly as fun though! Team RWBY’s been really tense since you left. They’re not too happy after I attacked the Ice Queen.” Nora’s cheeks began to inflate as she pouted ever so slightly.

Jaune winced at the imagery, but couldn’t help but chuckle, “Nora, thank you. But you shouldn’t attack other people, I’m sure Weiss had her… reasons.” He spoke hesitantly, his eyes unable to meet Nora’s glare.

“Bah! It doesn’t matter, she hurt fearless leader and our team, she deserves it! Anyways, we all miss you, especially Pyrrha.” Originally Ren and Pyrrha had been listening intently, letting Nora have her time with Jaune alone, as she had been rather downcast recently, not her usually spirited self. But at those words Pyrrha began to perk up and started making her way over, quietly. “She’s really missing you! In fact the other day she-” Nora didn’t get to finish her sentence before she was accosted and the scroll was taken from her.

“Hello Jaune!” Jaune’s ears perked up, and his half smile formed into a full blown one, the curves of his lips nearly reaching his ears. 

“Pyrrha! It’s so, I mean, it’s great to see you.” Jaune’s heart swelled, as he saw Pyrrha’s bright expression. Somewhere in the distance he could hear Nora swearing that Jaune hadn’t been that excited to see her.

Soon, Ren and Nora took her left and right respectively, as if to follow up both Blanche and Naga had hesitantly taken their own spots a few feet away, not wanting to get in the way of the jubilee happening in front of them. At least that was the plan before Jaune motioned for them, “Hey you guys come here too, now’s a good time to get to know everyone, even though we’ve already introduced ourselves briefly before.”

“Ya! I wanna know fearless leader’s new minions!” The cheerful tone caused both Blanche and Naga to glance at one another for a brief moment before turning back towards the small screen.

“Right well then, I suppose I should go first.” Blanche opting to go, as she and Naga were the ones who were known the least. “And I suppose I should mention before anyone asks, these aren’t part of being a Faunus, by the way.” She pointed at the white marks that ran up her arms almost imitating a tiger’s stripes. 

“Oh I know! It’s Vitiligo right?” Everyone’s attention was drawn towards Nora, who was beaming. 

“Yeah, that’s right. Hey you’re the first person to guess that.” Blanche’s stoic demeanor breaking for a split second, her lips pursing upwards. 

“Wait, is it okay to be out in the sun as often?” This time it was Pyrrha who spoke up, a frown on her face as she showed signs of concern. 

“Oh ya, my skin burns easier, but so long as I have myself covered enough it’s fine.” Just behind her Naga pulled out a bottle of sunblock. 

“This helps! I have to carry it or miss tough guy here won’t bother remembering..” He said rolling his eyes.

“Right… well, as you can tell I’m a Faunus, a tiger like my father who was the town’s blacksmith. My mom’s an owl Faunus.” She smiled fondly.

“She does this really cool thing where she can move her head in a complete one eighty! Mom’s super scary when she’s mad!” Naga yelled out, a sudden shiver ran down his spine as a not so fond memory of him breaking a vase and the suddenness of her head rotation. “Still get nightmares, ugh.”

“Oh oh! Are you two siblings? You don’... no you do actually look kinda similar.” Nora asked, tilting her head to the left a little, as she put her right hand beneath her chin.

“Yes and no?” Blanche answered, staring at Naga who was still shivering slightly, his eyes shut tight. “We’re not blood related, but we’ve been together most of our lives, he always calls my mom, well mom.” 

“Oh don’t forget how I call your dad, Pa, instead of Dad like mine.” Naga stated no longer shivering, and instead nodding his head sagely. “I basically adopted Blanche one day, found some punks ‘attempting’ to bully her. They came from the more well to do part of the city. Freakin bigots, coming to Menagerietown and starting a fight, I swear I should have…” Naga started to mumble at this point.

“Wait, Menagerietown?” Ren’s left eyebrow risen in curiosity.

“Oh right, well we live in the city of Argent, it’s got the bigger city portion that most people see, and the lower more impoverished area where we live. It’s called Menagerietown because like the real Menagerie, it’s mostly Faunus, though unlike the real one there are plenty of humans there too, lots of mixed families to boot.”

This got a lot of Ooh’s from the members of JNPR.

“Right, as he said, he found some kids trying to bully me when I was younger, try being the keyword. I’ve always been on the bigger size,” she stated standing up and pulling Jaune up with her. She towered a good 8 or so inches taller than Jaune. “I’m bout 6’11” now.” She was obviously proud of herself if the smile and beaming look in her eyes had anything to say about it.

“I’ll say! You’re BUILT, if you ever come to Beacon we’ll have to work out together! I need someone who could keep up with me.” Nora nearly yelled out. 

“Hell ya! Now that sounds like my jam!” Jaune nearly fell backwards almost dropping the Scroll, he hadn’t expected Blanche to yell, she’d been taciturn this entire time but now she was suddenly excited.

“I gotcha.” Naga said, as he suddenly appeared behind Jaune, his palm on his back preventing him from falling over. “Sorry bout that, she gets like that when it comes to working out.” Turning his head he stared at Blanche, “Seriously you don’t need to get any bigger! You’re already huge as it is!”

Nora began to crack up, while Nora giggled, and even Ren couldn’t help himself from having a small chuckle. Jaune was still dazed as he began to get back up. 

“Right then, I suppose we’ll go next.” Ren spoke, presenting himself and Nora. “I’m Lie Ren, and this is my partner and childhood friend Nora Valkyrie.” Placing his hand on Nora’s shoulder she began to smile and wave fervently. 

“Howdy! I’m Nora! I like working out, pancakes, Ren, Pyrrha and Jaune! JNPR is the family we never had, and I’ll break the legs of anyone who wants to take that away.” Her tone suddenly less cheerful as she slammed her fist against her palm. 

“Uh, do you mean figuratively?” Naga asked, a tone of slight worry in his voice.

“No.” Her tone once again pleasant, and a smile plastered on her face.

“Right then, going to not make you mad.” Naga stated as he tugged at his shirt collar. 

“I’m Ren, as I previously said, it is a pleasure to formally meet you all.” 

Jaune leaned over and whispered at Naga and Blanche, “He’s basically keeps Nora under control when she gets too excitable.” Both of them nodded.

After a few seconds of silence they realized that they weren’t going to get more out of the duo, figuring that it was probably better to drop any more conversation, especially noting the family they didn’t have comment.

“Right well, my team already knows who I am.” Jaune went next, pointing towards the screen, all three of them smiling and nodding. “Either way, I’m Jaune Arc, third oldest in a family of 10, 7 sisters, and my mom and dad.” 

Naga’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, “SEVEN?! SEEEVEN?” He began to hyperventilate, “I… how?! I have this one.” He pointed at Blanche, “And a little sister, I can barely handle that! The pigtails, the lack of style, the dress up. How?!” He asked grabbing Jaune by the shoulders.

Jaune stared at Naga, a look of understanding, though something darker. “I didn’t… I just… I just went with the flow. There was no real handling it, it just happened whether I wanted to or not.” 

Naga stared at him a look of sorrow, pity, and understanding, “I’m so sorry.” He suddenly pulled Jaune into a hug, causing Jaune to put the Scroll down. Soon a polite cough came from the scroll causing them to break apart.

“Right, well, as you were saying Jaune.” Pyrrha’s suddenly sickeningly sweet tone tore through the silence.

“Uh right, sorry bout that.” Naga coughed nervously. “Anyways, continue please.” 

“Right, right.” Jaune said dusting himself off, and shifting the scroll onto the ground slanting it so everyone could see better. “Uhm, so I’m the leader of Team JNPR.” The next part he said under his breath, “Though I don’t see why.” It wasn’t quiet enough however.

“Jaune.” It was Ren’s turn to interrupt it seems, “You’ve proven time and time again why you should be the leader, besides you’re the one best suited for it out of all of us.” 

“Ya! Come back soon, Please!” Nora’s voice ever so slightly sad.

“We really miss you Jaune, Ruby does too, even the rest of her team.” Pyrrha stared at him, her eyes glistening, as if she wanted to cry.

“I miss you guys too.” While he may have said this, his eyes were focused on Pyrrha, this got a knowing smile from Nora, and a smirk from Ren. “Anyways, as I was saying, I’m the third oldest out of 8 of us, I’m from Doremy in Vale, it’s a small outer settlement so we don’t really get much in the way of television and stuff. Sorry Pyr.” Jaune said with a bashful smile on his face.

“Oh that’s quite alright Jaune! It was refreshing meeting someone who didn’t know me.” Her smile was radiant, at least for Jaune it was anyways.

“Right well as you know I may have forged my transcripts to get into Beacon, I really was over my head. I’d probably have died if it hadn’t been for Pyr. Thank you again by the way.” 

“Anytime Jaune, I’m just happy I was able to help you.” For nearly a minute the two of them began to stare into each other's eyes, only breaking away when Naga coughed.

“Right, well I hate to interrupt this romantic moment.” Ignoring the flustered denials from both the J and P of JNPR, “We should probably continue before it gets too late.” 

This got nods from everyone around him, “Right, uhm, as I said before I’m Pyrrha Nikos.” She paused, they hadn’t made a big deal of it before, but she was sure they knew who she was, the looks they had given her had been similar to the less enthusiastic fans. 

“Oh right, right, uhm you’re the Mistralian Champion right? We got to see some of your fights before, you’re really impressive!” Naga said with a smile on his face, he didn’t say it but he couldn’t help but be amazed at Jaune now, not only was he her team leader but she seemed infatuated with him. ‘Good for him.’ Naga had a soft smile as he waited for Pyrrha to continue.

“Oh thank you. Yeah, though I have to say, I’m really happy to be in Beacon. I’ve met so many wonderful people, I love my teammates, and I’m… I’m really happy I got to meet you guys.” A tear forming on her right eye, though this was quickly shut down as both Nora and Ren proceeded to hug her tightly. Jaune had a frown on his lips, remembering their conversation during the dance. 

“I really miss you guys. I promise as soon as Ozpin gets back to me, I’ll be there. And I’ll bring these two with me.” He said suddenly grabbing both Naga and Blanche, who not prepared for it were easily dragged into a hug of their own. 

Pyrrha didn’t seem to want to continue, not after the little emotional moment they just had so Naga decided to go next. 

“Right then, well I am once again, Naga Celestino De Azul.” He stood up, rose his hand in the air as he did a little flourish followed by a bow. 

“You really are like the Ice Queen!” Nora boomed.

“Ice Queen? Well I fashion myself more of a Dragon, and I am most certainly not a queen.” Letting out a loud harumph he dramatically rose his head upwards, though a small smile could be seen on his lips. 

“No, but you’re definitely a primadonna.” This got a chuckle out of everyone, including Naga, who was now staring at Blanche for making the comment.

“Well… anyways, my father is a Merchant, I… I don’t know where my mother is at the moment. I have two sisters not including Blanche, my little one is with my dad on a business trip, but my twin’s with my mother.” A brief scowl crossed his face as he turned his attention back to his peers.

“Oh I’m sorry.” Pyrrha said empathetically. 

“Oh there’s no reason to be! I’m sure that they’re doing fine, though they probably didn’t take me with them because I didn’t have any scales.” He let out a soft sigh.

“Scales?” This time it was Ren that asked, “Are you a Faunus?” 

“Sort of? I dunno how genetics work, my mother and sister were both Lizard Faunus, I and my little sister, Medusa, were born without any visible traits so we’re basically human. Anyways, uhm, so my dad’s a merchant, we used to be part of a Noble family but my grandfather was a wasteful, terrible man. He wasted most of our wealth and now we’re basically poor.” 

Jaune remembered the creaky floors now, the house was big but it didn’t look like it had any major upkeep in a while. 

“Right well, I want to be a huntsman for money, and maybe find my mother along the way?” He posed the last bit as a question. “I know she didn’t leave because she wanted to, she was really loving from what I could remember…” He paused and took a moment. “Sorry, you guys barely know me, I think I’ll stop there.” 

After a moment of silence, a loud clapping sound resounded through the silent forest. Blanche had taken the opportunity to smack Naga in the back, stirring him from his brief depression. “Can’t have ya getting sad, don’t want to attract any grimm.” Despite her words there was a soft sisterly smile on her face as she began to pat the shorter boy on the head.

“Right, right sorry. Anyways, ya so my goals aren’t exactly the best, I just want to hopefully make enough money to help set my family on track, I’d like my little sister to be able to get what she wants, and I’d like to let my dad retire. Anyways, ya, oh well uhm, onto something more exciting, Jaune here helped us beat a villain!” He said, now attempting to deflect the attention away from himself, his arms spread and stretched out towards Jaune, who was now bashfully scratching the back of his head.

“REALLY?! What happened?! What happened?!” Nora’s enthusiastic shouting drew smiles on the previously somber faces of those around her.

“It wasn’t much, you guys did all the heavy work, besides he probably wasn’t all that strong.” Jaune made an attempt to deflect off of him.

Though Blanche wasn’t going to let that fly, “I don’t think so, we don’t know what his semblance was, and you managed to have us use ours with out any trouble. You did a great job leading us without knowing us that well.” 

“I KNOW! HE’S AMAZING WHEN IT COMES TO LEADING US!” To everyone’s surprise it was Pyrrha who gave the enthusiastic compliment, once she realized everyone was staring at her she began to blush and hid her face in the palms of her hands. “I’m sorry.” Was her meek reply.

“No need to be! You’re right!” This time Naga chimed in, “he did a really good job at directing us, we don’t have any real experience with fighting people so I wasn’t really sure what we should do.” This caught everyone’s attention.

Jaune stared at them for a moment, “Didn’t you guys say you got into Beacon? Wouldn’t that have meant that you needed to go into a combat school, I think?” 

“Oh uh, no we never went to one, most of what we learned we did it through trial and error, and a lot of running away… a lot of running away.” Naga covered his mouth as Blanche looked away. “We uh, managed to pass the exams, thankfully they didn’t require us to fight any humans, they tested us on more remedial lessons and had us do live combat against a few captured Grimm. We kinda studied really hard and had a pretty good idea on how to kill them easily enough.” 

“And by that, he means he’s a nerd who forced me to study so we could learn to kill Grimm without being particularly fancy about it. We’re probably not the best when it comes to being flashy though, and we’re not too mobile. We just try to kill things as efficiently as possible, but because of that we don’t really know how to deal with other humans or faunus.” Blanche had the decency to look away as she spoke.

“Oh! Okay that ya, that explains why you guys fought the way you did when we got attacked by Grimm.” 

“What do you mean Jaune?” Pyrrha asked her expression lax, and her eyes narrowed in question.

“Oh, right we got attacked by a few creeps when we left, but these guys handled them really fast. And not in the same way that team Ruby handle’s them, a lot like how Ren and you do it actually Pyrrha.” Turning to Blanche he spread his arms open wide, “She! Basically ripped one of them down in half from down the middle, it was scary!” He then pointed at Naga, “And he simply beheaded one, didn’t do anything fancy, he just took his pole weapon blade thing.” 

“Guandao thank you…” 

“Right right, Guandao thing, and just slashed its head off. Then he saved me in the confusion when I got surprise attacked by another one I hadn’t expected by changing places with me and simply stabbing it through the face! It was simple, but at the same kind it was just as awesome as the things RWBY usually does!” 

Blanche and Naga couldn’t help but blush at those words, “I mean, ya… well uhm, You sliced one in half with one arm! That’s even more impressive, ya!” Naga was doing his best to not be the center of attention as NPR couldn’t help but stare at the two in awe. “And besides, we’re not that good, we don’t know if we could handle too many at any time, and I kinda don’t have firearms.”

This, this caused Jaune to grin from ear to ear, “Oh, my Oum!” Suddenly he once again grabbed the Naga into another hug, “We’re classic’s only buddies! Ruby would both and be ashamed of us!” 

This got a few good laughs from the other side of the scroll. 

“Well… why don’t we help you?” Pyrrha asked, getting confused looks from the trio. 

“What do you mean Pyr?” 

“What I mean is, why don’t we start training you, or at least walking you through the movements, it’ll be harder than in person like how I was training you Jaune, but we could use the opportunity to get you three up to par. It’s the least I could do for all your doing for Jaune.”

“Heck ya! You can expect Rennie and I will be along for the ride!”

“Indeed, you all are helping Jaune out, so we should also do our best on our end to help you.”

Unsure of what to say, and originally wanting to decline the offer, the duo decided to accept. “I ya… if you guys are willing to that’d be awesome, I, we would appreciate it.” Blanche nodded along with Naga’s words.

“Excellent, we’ll talk more details tomorrow and we can get started then.” Pyrrha beamed at them.

Getting her bearings again, Blanche decided to ask a question that had been on her mind, “You mentioned a Ruby, who is she, if you don’t mind me asking.” 

“Oh right right, she’s a friend of ours, she’s the leader of Team RWBY.” This got a couple of nods from the tiger and dragon duo.

“Speaking of which, how is she doing? She didn’t really look happy last time I saw her.”

“She’s holding up, Ozpin had called all of us in, and informed us that it’d be temporary at best. Blake and Yang aren’t really saying much, though Weiss.” Pyrrha took a pause before she started again, “She’s actually regretting it, and not just because Nora had attacked her.” Nora’s face showed an absolutely manic glee to it. “I don’t know what happened, but after their team had a talk it seemed like she realized she was too hasty, and now she feels bad. She said something about wanting to make it up to you, or something like that.” Pyrrha paused at the last words, worried that it’d get Jaune enthralled at the possibility of a date with Weiss.

Though, to his credit he simply sighed, “She doesn’t have to, an apology will be fine, but I’m glad I stopped chasing after her. Eheheh… not my greatest moments.” He sheepishly paused, his eyes glancing Pyrrha’s way for a brief moment, though everyone caught it including the spartan herself whose face was now lightly dusted.

“Right right, well uhm, other than that we were told that we could still participate in the Vytal tournament, but we decided if you weren’t going to be around we didn’t want to, though my sponsors weren’t exactly happy about it. But, I made my decision, we participate as a team or we don't participate at all.” Nora began to cheer, quite loudly.

“Ya! That’s our awesome temporary Leader! There’s no way we’d do this without Jaune-Jaune! We’re team JNPR no matter what anyone says.” This received nods from the remaining two members as well, both smiling quite gleefully. 

After a bit more talking, and a random appearance of one Ruby Rose, who was absolutely ecstatic to find out Jaune was doing alright, and to learn about the weapons of the two newcomers, it was time to hit the sack.

“Alright, well it’s getting late. We should probably go to sleep, Goodnight guys, I miss ya.” A somber smile on his face as he stared at them.

In return he received four smiles of a various degrees.

“Night Jaune!” Ruby waved as she walked back to her room.

“Goodnight Jaune.” Ren, waved as he made his way to his bed.

“Night Fearless leader!” Nora, jumped from Pyrrha’s bed and over Rens to hers.

“Goodnight Jaune, I miss you.” Pyrrha said with a soft smile, the two waited in silence for a while, until they both decided to close their scrolls at the same time.

“Right then! We should prepare to sleep.” Pausing Jaune turned towards the Duo, “Thank you guys. I mean it, you’ve been awesome to me, and we barely met.”

The Tiger and Dragon stared at one another and shrugged, “I mean, ya looked like you need help. And I wouldn’t be a good person if I didn’t go out of my way to help someone when they were down you know? And Blanche has to come along, it’s part of her sibling contract after all.” Naga snickered at the last part, which only earned him a strong push.

Blanche turned towards Jaune and started, “What he said, besides, we didn’t have much else to do, no one even expected us to be home now so our folks won’t be missing us. It’ll help us get some experience, and we get some free training out of it, it’s a win win.” 

“Just, still, thanks guys.” Once again rubbing the back of his head, he couldn’t help but look down. He really was lucky, after coming to Beacon he met some amazing people, and even the stroke of bad luck he had ended up getting him some more amazing friends. He knew he had to improve, if not for himself, for the people that seemingly started to believe in him. Originally it was just Pyrrha, then it was Ruby, now he knew that Ren and Nora did, and then he met these two. He really was blessed, so much so he couldn’t help as tears began to sting his eyes. 

“Hey man, don’t sweat it, I know we just met, but we can already tell you’re awesome. Ya lack a little confidence, but I’m sure we can work on it. Anyways…” Naga paused as he walked over to his Hammock, “Why don’t you two get over here, it’s big enough to fit the three of us, so I may as well share.

This earned a chuckle from both Blanche and Jaune, who after noticing that Naga was serious decided to do what he wanted. It took some positioning but soon all three were lying down on the hammock, a thick blanket on top of all three of them. “Good night guys, and thanks.” 

Jaune only received mummers in response as the trio began to descend into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry for my absence, I had a mild bit of writer's block and my job's been driving me up the wall. Either way here was chapter 6, so a few things to note, Naga is a very touchy feely person with just about everyone, so he tends to let his emotions lead before his logic. 
> 
> Another thing, I'm trying to decide whether the crew will get back to Beacon for the Vytal festival, JNPR still wont' participate due to time constraints, but they would be able to meet up. Or, to have them meet up when RNPR makes their way to Argus, which would be some time away. Let me know what you would prefer.
> 
> For the third thing, I'm thinking of doing a WakfuXRWBY crossover, by that I mean editing the Wakfu story with RWBY characters, and canging things that happen and so forth so far I already have the several characters planned, but if you've seen Wakfu lemme know who else should be who else.
> 
> Ruby=Yugo
> 
> Eva=Pyrrha
> 
> Jaune=Grovy
> 
> Ruel=Qrow
> 
> Adamai=Yang
> 
> Tai=Alibert
> 
> Grogolagran=Ozpin
> 
> Some character's that won't be changed, Elely and Floppin will remain as themselves. Ogrest will definitely stay as Ogrest, and Otomai will probably stay the same.


	8. Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look I did a thing with this one!

Jaune grunted loudly as his body was blown backwards and into a tree. He felt his entire world shake violently as he stared dumbly at the beast in front of him. It was a Ursa Major, a rather big one, perhaps as big as the one in the Forever Falls. His grip tightened onto his blade, his shield brought up to guard him, his stance low. “Naga.” His voice stern and cold.

“Yes?” Came the non plussed answer, the dragon boy currently in the middle of beheading two beowolves, his blade slicing effortlessly through their unarmored hides. 

“I hate you, I just want you to know that.” It had been a few weeks since their conversation with team NPR, and their request to accept training from Pyrrha. Since then they had yet to find any towns, and had run into Grimm multiple times a day. All because Naga just couldn’t shut his mouth.

“What why!?” Faux shock and hurt on his features as he placed his hand sordidly to his chest. 

This earned a groan from Blanche, “Because you don’t know when to shut up, ever since we were kids you just couldn’t help but to test fate.” Her body currently in motion, her fist slamming dutifully into the ground as she ripped through the armored plated brain case of a once living Ursa minor.

“I did no such thing!” He said, once again in false offense. His body suddenly swapping places with a rather small Ursa, who found a new hole in it’s chest courtesy of Naga’s glaive penetrating through from it’s back. “All I said was that it had been too easy! We could use more of a challenge! And honestly, I still stand by…”

“Shut up!” He was cut off in stereo, as both Jaune and Blanche begged him to just stop talking for once.

“Don’t, don’t ever tempt fate again please. I’m begging you!” Jaune was obviously tired, they’d been fighting so much during the day, yet for some reason never ran into issues at night, though Pyrrha had definitely put them through the ringer. On one hand, he lo… enjoyed seeing her… and his team frequently. On the other hand though, she was a slave driver! It was insane, the things she had them do, a shudder came overtook his body as he thought about it briefly. 

Although, he couldn’t really argue with the results. That and the constant live combat had really gotten him to improve. An Ursa claw reared back and attempted to crush him beneath. In response he sidestepped, using his shield not to block, but parry the blow. Using the beast's own momentum against it, he caused it to stumble down and nearly trip. He took this opportunity to cleave the beast in twain, relieving it from it’s much needed head. One of the things he’d learned, or rather gained was confidence.

He had been lacking it, but being forced to literally fight for his life every day, and having others fight by his side 24/7 and having them to train with did wonders to him. Was he as good as his peers in beacon? Not by a long shot! He had a lot of work to do to catch up, but he didn’t feel lost anymore.

No longer did he feel like a fish out of water, instead he found his river, he could get there he just knew it. A small smile graced his face as he stared back the remaining grimm, their leader vanquished, all sense of bravery faltered as they fled. 

“Man! This is great! All that training from your girlfriend and team have been helping out a ton! I can use my semblance way more often now. I need to get something nice for Nora and Ren, their advice on aura control has been a godsend! Especially with Nora’s help on when to expend it.” Naga’s smile was nearly splitting his face from ear to ear.

It was true, both him and Blanche had also improved, it seemed that the other team had taken notice of NPR’s late night sessions and they’d thrown their two cents in as well. Blanche was way better at using her muscles now, what with Nora and Yang’s advice on how to throw a punch and control her insane strength better. And with Ren and Nora’s help they’d gotten a lot of advice in controlling their aura and when to really use it. Then there was Weiss and Pyrrha.

By this point, Weiss had already made up with Jaune, she realized that she had reacted far too selfishly and fast and hadn’t given him time to defend himself. Though their relationship wasn’t great to start with, they both felt they could make amends. 

Their assistance with stances and combat motions helped a ton! The trio felt like they could take on the world, and honestly it felt like they had. There was still one problem though, Jaune had yet to find his semblance. Though, everytime he fought, everytime he was hit, or something shook him. He felt like he was getting closer, like there was a well in his chest that was just waiting to burst open.

With the adrenaline still pumping; Jauen couldn't help but fall to his knees, his arms raised above. “YEEEEESSSS!” His excitement boiling over, he had done it. Sure he’d killed a Major before, but this time it felt different, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He felt like he had handled it on his own, and it was different this time. He wasn’t sure if he could take one prior to leaving Beacon, but now, he wasn’t sure if it was the skill he gained or the confidence. Either way he felt good, the only other time he’d felt this way was when he saved Cardin. 

One cleared throat later, and a sideways glance at his compatriots, clearly showed he’d been doing it for far too long. He gave them a sheepish grin, red tinting his cheeks as he scratched the back of his neck. “Hah… uh sorry.”

“No, don’t be.” Blanche gave a muted grin, “That was pretty big.” Naga nodded besides her.

“Ya man, don’t sweat it, you did a great job!” A massive grin spread across Naga’s face as he nodded along. 

Jaune couldn’t help but feel even more embarrassed, the only person who praised him this much was Pyrrha, and even then he wasn’t used to it. Sucking in some air, he got up and dusted himself off.

After several minutes of rest, Jaune reached for his backpack. From it he pulled a map that the duo had with them “So, at least according to the map, we should be at a town soon.” 

Naga and Blanche gathered behind the seated Jaune, his fingers pointed at the small words, Seraumont, that appeared on the map. 

Naga cocked his left eyebrow, “That’s of course, if we’re going the right way.” He said, pulling out his compass and a map. “I uh… I think we’re going the right way. Just uhm, gimme a moment alright?” 

Both Jaune and Blanche watched him, patiently at first, as he proceeded to scramble around, putting the map on the ground and the compass on top to keep it from flittering away. His eyes glanced towards one end of the map and the other. 

Blanche gave him a look, though Naga wasn’t paying attention, her eyes squinted and her left dimple tilted downwards. She shouldn’t have let him navigate, they were probably lost in god knows where. 

However, before she could voice her complaint, Naga spoke up. “Aha! Okay, I now where we are, we’re’ actually not all that far from the town it looks like. Shouldn’t be more than half a day’s trek. 

His eyes flush with elation, though the other two weren’t quite so sure. Still, they nodded, hopefully they’d find a town. 

To their utmost surprise, Naga wasn’t lying to them, or at least he wasn’t unintentionally lying to them. They sure enough found a town, the name was Shion.

It took Jaune all of a second to snap his fingers, “OH! I actually know where we are! My family and I used to camp out here all the time!” This caused Naga to stare at him for a moment.

“Didn’t you say you had like 4 sisters or something?” Blanche spoke aloud, she couldn’t help admire the town, it was definitely a step up from the slums they came from at least.

“Seven actually…” Jaune’s voice squeaked out a little bit, this caused both Blanche and Naga to shift a little, their eyes widening at the realization. Though instead of mocking, Naga couldn’t help but release an exasperated sigh.

“That sounds tough… but also nice.” Shaking himself from his lost thoughts he motioned forward. Not wanting to dwell on his own thoughts, he proceeded to push forward. “Right, well, we should get going, I think it’s best that we go settle down.”

“Right… right, there’s a tavern not far from here.” Jaune motioned for them to follow. He had always loved this Shion, whenever his family came to camp out in the area, they’d always drop by for supplies. The people were friendly and he’d never run into problems with them before. 

As they made their way through the town, Blanche couldn’t help but notice the lack of stares she was getting, that was curious. Whenever, they’d gone out before, people would frequently stare at her jaw. This, this was nice, it was good to see that not everyone cared about little differences. 

As they made their way forward they came across a large building, which from first appearances, appeared to be a bar. Though as they entered they realized that the interior was nicer than any bar they’d come across. The finish was properly done, and while there was a bar inside, it seemed to also have a front desk as well as other amenities, including stares which seemed to lead up to what they could only guess as additional rooms. 

Soon a soft voice called out to them, “Hello Darlings, how can I help you today?” The originator of the voice was an elderly woman, her hair short and trimmed to just below her ears, greyed from age. 

“Ah yes, we’re looking to rent a room for the night, if you have a three bed room that’d be great.” Jaune spoke first.

“Mmm.” The inn keeper hummed in acknowledgement, soon she began skimming through her ledger and nodded. “Sure do.” She paused, taking a glance at the ragged adventurer trio. “How long do you plan on staying?” 

The three of them looked at one another, Naga began checking his wallet, to see the funds they had. Grimacing he held up one finger, they probably couldn’t afford more than a single night.

“Uhm, only tonight, we just want to try to freshen up a little.” Jaune hadn’t gone over the details of their adventure, he didn’t want anyone feeling bad or, like he was attempting to gain sympathy.

The Innkeeper nodded, “I’ll tell you what, most of the rooms have been booked up anyways by a couple of our regulars. We can afford to let ya lot stay here for three days, for the price of one.” She hummed again, “That’d be 40 lien.” 

This was a huge savings for them, and the trio couldn’t help but feel shocked, though before either of the boys could say something stupid, Blanche decided to chime in. “Thank you, we’ll accept your kindness.” She gave a curt nod. 

Naga, walked forward, pulling a few lien cards to hand over to the innkeeper. Though as he did so she gave him a once over, “Deary, weren’t you already staying here?” She asked, her head tilted in confusion. 

Naga stopped for a few moments, his lips thinning and his eyes half closing. “No? I’m sorry, we just got into town?” He wasn’t the only one confused, as both Jaune and Blanche mumbled in agreement.

“Hmm, yes yes I see that now, you’re slightly taller, and you’re lacking in the bust department.” She paused a little and then turned back to him, “Not that there's anything wrong with that.” 

This definitely caused Naga to stop, he realized what had happened, she thought he was a girl. He wanted to say something, but was soon stopped by Blanche, who was doing her damndest not to break out into laughter. “It’s okay ma’am, ‘she’s’ used to it by now.” A small giggle escaped her throat. “Now come on lil sis, you need to pay up.” 

Naga shot her a fierce glare, his eyes dulled over, and a frown upon his face. Though, he figured there was no winning this one, so he just paid the innkeeper, who proceeded to give them their keys. “It’s room 602, should be on the third floor.” The trio nodded in confirmation, and began to head upwards. 

It didn’t take them long to reach the door, “Hey you guys go on ahead of me, I’m going to get something to eat.” The only response he got was a mummer of exhaustion as the two nodded their heads and headed inside.

Making his way down he got a better look at the bar, there sure were a lot of people, she did say that most of the rooms had been filled up. But he hadn’t expected most of them to be down here, it seemed that there was a party going on. Though, he couldn’t ignore the strange feeling like he had seen a few of these people before. 

As he made his way down, the strangest sight caught his attention, it was Naga, but he had just left Naga upstairs. Making his way towards him, he reached out and called his name.

“Naga, weren’t you just up stairs, how’d you get down so quickly?” His confusion, suddenly turned into more confusion as the person, it didn’t take him long to realize that it wasn’t Naga, for one it was a girl. Two the hair style was slightly different, while it was also swept to the right, she didn’t have the odd braid thing Naga had going on. Instead it was just cut short, and she didnt’ have the dread bun that Naga had either, she simply had a long pony tail. 

Other than that, she was the spitting image of his friend, they both had the same darkened skin, though instead of having amethyst eyes, like Naga. Her’s were much closer to lapis lazuli, and now that he got a better look she was wearing a small jacket, and actually wearing it, unlike Naga who for some reason had it stitched to his vest. She had dark black shorts on too, ones that barely made it past her thighs. And instead of having the fancy shoes Naga loved so much, she had heavy looking grieves that appeared to be made out of some metal. He also noticed what appeared to be scales running down the latter part of her legs.

Then there was the biggest difference, she had a tail! A tail longer than her, which wasn’t saying much, she had to be shorter than Nora, but that tail definitely made up for it. The tail wasn’t something he’d normally bring much attention to, but this time he had to. What appeared to be segmented blades linked through and latched knot by chains and leather, ran down the second half of it. The best way he could describe it, would be something out of a science fiction horror movie, possibly about insect looking black aliens. 

Though, his studying of her ended shortly after noticing the bladed tail, because soon after he found said blades uncomfortably close to him. She had stood up, and he was sure now that she was smaller than Nora, not by much but she was. 

She didn’t seem to be in a good mood, though she was polite enough not to slide her tail too close to his neck. He couldn’t help but feel, that for someone so tiny she was ever so slightly terrifying. ‘What is it with short girls and being terrifying.’ His thoughts were interrupted again as she spoke.

“Did you call me Naga?” Her lips thinned, her eyes burning a whole through his head. “Why do you know that name, why did you think I was him?” 

Okay that was interesting, he hadn’t mentioned Naga’s sex before. Oh… oh crap, the thought hit him hard, ‘She’s his missing sister! No wonder they look the same.’ 

Now one might say that Jaune was dense, and they’d be right, but he wasn’t that dense. He always had an inkling that Pyrrha had been interested in him even before the dance. He just never thought he’d be good enough, she was amazing, she was kind, awesome, helpful and just an amazing person. He couldn’t give a damn about her achievements, that didn’t matter to him, no she was just the absolute best.

“I’m waiting…” Her arm’s were crossed now and the tail had inched just a bit closer.

Oh crap he got distracted again, well either way, he could see clues, and it didn’t take a genius to realize that she was the spitting image of his friend minus a few things. Though, before he could respond a new voice entered the fray.

“Well well~ What do we have here?” Jaune froze, he recognized that voice, “Lamy! It looks like you found one of those kids I was talking about! Remind me to give you a raise!” It was Deib, which only meant that…

“You don’t pay me. Also… you mentioned one of them looked like me right?” 

Deib nodded, he hadn’t pointed that out last time, though Jaune wish he had. Though his attention was soon brought back to Lamy? Was that her name? He wasn’t sure, that was an odd name and didn’t fit with what Naga’s family theme seemed to be. 

“So… where is he?” Her tone was dangerous, and despite being posed as a question, it definitely wasn’t one. 

Jaune had to think his way out of this, and quickly, though before he could.

“Hey Jaune, did ya order yet?” Naga and Blanche had come down stairs. And as eloquently as Jaune could, he only had one response. 

“Oh crap baskets.”


End file.
